A Country Girl's Pirate
by Noc and NC
Summary: Ace agreed to make a special delivery for her, but he really had no idea just how special it was. Mouda hears of Ace's imprisonment and soon to be execution and she's determined to not let it end without him knowing.
1. A Country Girl's Letter

A Country Girl's Letter

Mouda could remember it clearly, the first time she had seen him. It was a very memorable moment because he had been floating limply down the river, and she was shrieking her head off at the horror of finding a dead body on her property.

After the screaming had stopped she dragged him up out of the water and onto the small wooden deck above them. It hadn't been an easy task since the man was _heavy_- not because he was overweight, but because he was a fair bit bigger then her and all of him was muscle, not to mention drenched in water. Once she had painstakingly pulled him onto the wooden planks and rolled him onto his back, her face was beet red from effort. Pressing heavily on his chest, she hoped desperately that he was at least a little bit not dead.

Her hopes were rewarded when he quickly sputtered up water, the man coughing and hacking as she skittered backwards, heaving a sigh of relief and trying to calm herself. The fact that he was actually still alive did a good job of surprising the girl. The man opened his eyes to no more then a sliver's width, rolled his head around in various directions, and then promptly began snoring.

Mouda smiled brightly. A sleeping person was a much better thing then a drowned person, after all. Puzzlement crossed the girl's face. But what was she going to do with him now? She couldn't leave him soaking like this, what if he caught a cold?

"Take him back to the house!" she cheered to herself. "It'll be a good deed done!"

She paused in her happy monologue.

How on earth was she going to carry him back to the house?

Looking around curiously, she spotted one of her cows grazing nearby and felt an idea spark in her brain.

"Moo-moo!" she called to the animal, which lifted its head up slowly, staring at her with big, clueless eyes. "Moo-moooo!" she cooed. "Come here, sweets! C'mon!" with continued beckoning and a few claps of her hands the cow waddled over leisurely, finally interested in what its owner wanted.

"Be good and still now…" she asked of it while starting up the difficult task of lifting up the unconscious man. The cow lowered its head, sniffing the unfamiliar human while Mouda nearly fell over in the middle of placing him stomach side down on the cow's back. Once he was safely positioned on the animal she sat down with a breathless thump, the black and white creature giving a small noise of protest with the uncomfortable weight on its back.

"Hush…Moo…moo…" Mouda panted, getting to her feet weakly. "Lets…go to…the house…" nearly tripping over the forgotten buckets she had meant to collect water in, the girl walked fumblingly to her home. The barnyard animal followed after, its passenger's head and feet brushing against the grass as it took heavy steps behind her. She removed the man from Moo-moo's back, grimacing as he hit the welcome mat with a harsh thud of his head.

"Oh!" the girl squeaked, sweating bullets. "I-I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"

A soft snort was her answer, followed by light breathing. Mouda held her breath, waiting for him to get up and yell at her, though it didn't happen. Just more snoring.

"Still asleep" she sighed, hand on her chest.

He must be exhausted, she thought sympathetically. To receive a blow to the head and still not wake up, I bet he's really tired…

"Then to bed!" she told the air enthusiastically. "Oh, but then…" she looked back at the unconscious man who was still snoring with his face planted on the doormat. "Taha…how do I get him _there?_"

After what felt like and quite possibly could have been an hour worth of tugging, panting, dragging and gasping for breath as her arms and legs shook from pulling him across her house to her bedroom, Mouda crumpled at the foot of her bed, exhausted.

"You're _really_ heavy, mister!" she told him after she had caught her breath, planting her hands on her developing hips as she looked down as his sleeping form. "No wonder you almost drown! I bet you sink like a _rock_"

While not knowing just how right she was- though it was for a different reason then his weight- Mouda skipped to the bathroom to fetch a towel, her legs still a little wobbly. Returning speedily, she set to work in making her guest more comfortable. Having him being in such a deep sleep was helpful to her as she removed his knife and gun belts, as well as his boots, as the items would only provide him with the unneeded water they were holding.

Without much wait she began to dry him off with the towel in hand, starting with his feet and working her way up from there. For modesty's sake she pressed the towel to his hips and surrounding area only briefly, moving onwards to his stomach a second later. She slipped her hand underneath the slumbering figure and rubbed at his back as well, sucking up her breath as she mustered the strength to lift him up high enough to get at his shoulder blades.

After setting him down as gently as possible with her trembling limbs, she wrung out the towel a little and worked on brushing it over his face, pausing every now and again to observe him as he continued to sleep, something that amazed her all on its own.

He has a handsome face, she confided in herself while running the material in her hand over his brow. Much cuter then any boys my age. I wish he lived here. I'd be with him everyday.

Her hand stopped moving at the thought, cheeks flushing.

Red faced, Mouda let loose on his hair, scrubbing it with furious effort until it was dry and fluffy. The new look made her laugh and forget the thoughts that had just drifted through her head.

After she had ceased her giggling she worked up a final burst in strength to toss him onto her bed. His feet were hanging off the end of it and the now fluffy haired man looked absolutely ridiculous when she covered him with her blanket, which was a lavender color with many tiny white fishes printed on it.

For a brief moment he seemed to stir, his hand moving to grip her white, frilly pillow as he buried his face in it. Mouda watched the scene with interest, slowly moving out of the room as he started to snore again, convinced he wouldn't be making many more movements. She paused at her doorway, scooping up the things she had removed from him before peeking back at the slumbering man, who still looked very silly.

Silly but _cute_, said that older part of her mind which she promptly disregarded, closing her door behind her as she exited the room.

"Why had I taken him to my room, though?" Mouda pondered, walking down the hall with her free hand on her chin. "Mom and dad's bed would fit him better…"

She settled with chopping it up to be a simple act of habit, her room being the first place for the girl to go when she entered the house.

The farm girl placed the man's belongings on her kitchen table before cantering to her parents' room, looking through the dressers that occupied it. Stealing one of her father's shirts while giving a silent promise to return it, she dug into their closet and swiped a pair of old sandals as well. The stranger must have lost his shirt in the river, and his boots wouldn't be done drying for a while, given their thickness.

Smiling merrily, she poked her head into her room and noted that he was still sleeping, though the surprise that she had felt about his ability to remain unconscious was starting to loose its effect. Tip-toeing inside, she placed the shirt and sandals on her nightstand where he could find them, scurrying back out into the hall when the task was complete.

She recalled that the man had been wearing a hat, which had fallen off during her rigorous session of dragging his limp body through the grass. Dashing out of her house and down to the river, Mouda was glad to see that the still wet hat was where she had left it. Picking up the headwear, the farm girl eyed it curiously.

It was a very flashy hat. That was the first thing to come to mind- the second being that the stranger himself looked pretty flashy, tattoos all over him, all muscular while wearing a bunch of cool accessories. The third was that she should probably get back to work, because the farm wasn't going to take care of itself, no matter how cool and flashy her unexpected guest was.

After collecting several buckets of water like she had set out to do at the beginning of her day, she filled a large basin with the clear liquid and watched on peacefully as the cows drank from it. Getting down to the river was too steep a walk for the barnyard animals, so water needed to be brought to them. Moo-moo lapped up quite a lot in particular, but Mouda patted her on the head instead of shooing her away like the other times the dairy cow got greedy- she had earned the extra drink this time.

For a while she picked the ripened apples from the apple tree out back, placing them gently in a basket which was later set on her kitchen table beside the sleeping stranger's possessions. Afterwards the farm hand went back outside and resumed overlooking the cows as they roamed about, drinking water or eating or swatting at flies with their tails.

* * *

The day had reached its hottest hour, and Mouda sighed peacefully as the afternoon sun heated her skin. A faint creaking and the click of a door closing caught her attention, the farm girl getting up from her crouched position and turning towards the noise, which was in the same direction as her house.

The stranger way there by her doorway, clad in her father's sandals and shirt, though buttoning up the article of clothing had been neglected. His hair was smoothed out now, no longer fluffy as he buried his fingers in it, scratching at his scalp. His expression made him look rather disoriented, the man's brow furrowed as he walked towards her.

"Hello there!" she chirped, the common greeting being the first thing to pop into her head. Placing a new smile on her face, she brushed her hands over her skirt. Mouda found herself wishing she had changed into something nicer as the possibly half-asleep man looked her over with dazed eyes.

"Uh…" was what he first said to her.

It wasn't anything like a conversation, not even a word. But the instant she heard his voice, with that tiny, meaningless noise he made, Mouda was positive she liked it. It was deep but not raucous, soft but not quiet, and altogether _warm_. A very friendly, inviting voice that gave her the same feeling as what she would get looking at a cozy fireplace.

'Come sit by me' was the voice translated to in her head, and the girl was amazed by how much she found herself wanting to run to him that very instant and curl up in a blanket.

"…Where am I?" was the rest of the sentence that he finally managed to put together, snapping Mouda out of her cuddling fantasies.

"Oh!" she squeaked, hoping her cheeks weren't too red. "You're at my farm! I mean my parent's farm!"

"Uh…" he said again. "Yeah. But where is it on the island?"

"Y-yes, of course!" she stammered, pulling at the hem of her skirt in embarrassment. "You're on the southwest end of the island! I found you floating in the river!"

"Oh, good, not far away from my boat then…" he scratched at his head some more before changing his expression to something less stressed. "You saved me?"

"Yes!" she breathed, taking a few steps towards him and holding out her hand. "I'm Mouda, by the way!"

"I'm Portgas D. Ace. Thanks, Mouda"

His large fingers curled over her little hand, their palms meeting in a handshake. Mouda's skin seemed to light up with the contact, the girl almost pulling away as sweat built between the crevices of her fingers.

He- he's really, _really_ _hot! _She thought with near shock, fairly certain her words weren't directed at his appearance. Ace grinned at her while they continued their handshake, though he broke the contact to put his hands in his pockets, looking to the side for a moment.

"Er, so…" his partly bare heel dug into the pasture grass as he spoke. "I know you saved me and all, so I shouldn't go asking for any more favors, especially since I don't have any money, but I couldn't help but notice some nice looking apples on your table there and I'm pretty hungry…" he trailed off with a laugh, grinning at her with something that might have been an unsaid please.

"You can have as many apples as you like!" she encouraged with a nod, walking to the house herself while he followed after.

"Oh, good, because I sort of already ate them-" he jerked back suddenly, clearly expecting her to be angry with the sudden news. Instead Mouda looked back at him with a beaming smile.

"Actually, I was just about to have lunch!" she informed him, her expression so inviting he probably wasn't sure what to make of it. "Do you want to join me?"

"Well, I should probably get going…" he stomach growled loudly. "But I guess a quick bite couldn't hurt!"

* * *

While making lunch- just a few simple sandwiches and cut up fruits served with cold milk- she found herself peeking at him continuously, studying his freckled face and strong looking shoulders, the man's well muscled chest and stomach, toned arms and legs…everything on him caught her eyes' interest and made her heart pound.

What is it? She wondered to herself while placing a hand over her chest, feeling the rhythmic beating of her heart. What's making me feel like this?

She had seen good-looking men before, but never had they gotten such a reaction out of her. Looking at Ace, she almost felt like her insides were blazing. His very presence seemed to kindle the fire in her body that had remained dormant until meeting him. Taking in a quiet breath of air, she smiled a pink faced smile while handing Ace his portion of the food, which he began eating almost rabidly.

Am I in love? She asked herself tentatively. Is that what's happened to me? Did I fall in love with this stranger? Is that even possible?

Mouda had listened to the other girls on the island gush about their wondrous boyfriends- or those they wished were their boyfriend- and how they made their insides go to hot, gooey mush and their hearts fluttered and pounded at the sight of them, how the boy- always a boy, never a man- was absolutely perfect.

Ace is absolutely perfect, said her heart.

He's a man, though, argued her logic. He's not a boy. And you're a girl, not a woman. Girls love boys and men love women. That's how it's supposed to go, Mouda.

But none of the boys I've ever met made me feel like this, her heart said with some sense of pleading. I'll be a woman soon enough. Ma always said that love doesn't care about someone's age.

I bet he's at _least_ three years older then you! Her brain told her, while her heart thumped loudly in protest.

Da is _six_ years older then ma! Was the rapid beating's meaning.

But their both _old_, so that makes it okay, snipped her sensible half- as sensible as she got, anyways.

"Um," she squeaked, stepping back into reality long enough to speak. "I…I forgot to do something. I'll be right back"

"Weren't you going to have lunch too?" he inquired while wiping some crumbs off his chin.

"Oh, I'll be fine…" Mouda mumbled, watching as the crumbs sprinkled down his bare chest onto his lap. Quickly, she snapped her head back up. "You can have my share!"

"You sure? A farmer needs lots of energy to work, and you look pretty skinny"

"I- I had a big breakfast!" she sputtered as an excuse. "Really, help yourself! I'll just…I'll just…be over here for a minute!" she dashed down the hall to her room, shutting the door with considerable force as she clutched at her burning face.

"What do I do?!" she whined, palms against her eyes. "I…I've never liked anyone like this before…!"

Heck, her mind continued. It'd be hard to say I've even talked to someone of the opposite gender for so long, asides from the occasional customer. What should I do…?

"I want him to know" she mumbled, walking over to her bed. The blanket was strewn about messily and she busied herself with straightening it. "But I've never confessed to anyone before…how could I convey my feelings…?" She sighed, feeling a little helpless. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something white on a lower level of her nightstand.

"Oh…?" she breathed curiously, picking up the envelope. Inside was an advertisement she had meant to mail to the nearby marine base, but had forgotten about it after supposedly losing it. "Mail…"

An idea hit her, not unlike how Ace's head had hit the welcome mat several hours earlier.

"A letter!" she squealed, flailing her arms about like an excited octopus. "I'll give him a love letter, and he'll read it and then he'll know how I feel without me having to tell him directly!" she put a little hop in her steps as she went to her desk, pulling out her stationary kit.

A blank white paper in front of her and pen in hand, she licked the tip of the writing utensil while thinking deeply.

"What exactly should I write…?"

Mouda shut her eyes, picturing the object of her affections in her mind. Shaggy hair the color of coal, with eyes darker then forged iron. An interesting smile on a handsome face dappled by freckles. A muscular, athletic figure that suggested he knew how to fight, and knew how to protect others. Tattoos printed on his skin and accessories that gave him a personal style. Hot, hot skin that only made her want to come closer…

Her pen moved as her eyes remained shut, writing out the single thought echoing from her heart.

_I love you dearly_

* * *

Mouda watched as Ace chugged the milk she had brought for him as a departure gift, two letters pressed against her mouth to keep a squeal from escaping. Some of the milk dribbled down his chin and he wiped it off with the back of his hand, taking a breath of air as well, his chest heaving.

A snapshot of this should have been my add instead of some words and picture of silly little me, Mouda thought vaguely while being entranced with the show in front of her.

Ace looked at her unexpectedly and cocked a brow, perhaps catching on to why she was looking at him so unwaveringly. Her cheeks reddened but she kept the envelopes safe against her lips.

"What's that?" he asked while gesturing the hand holding the mug at the envelopes in question.

"Um…" she managed to sound out, placing the letters on her lap. "Um, I was wondering, since the mail office is probably on your way, if you could maybe deliver something for me…? It's a far walk for me, and I need to watch the farm…" she held up the ad. "T-this is to go to the nearby marine base…"

He took it from her, grinning. "No problem! I own you for saving and feeding me, after all!"

"A-and…" her stammering caught his interest, the man leaning closer to her. Swallowing her heart which had inconveniently jumped up into her throat, she held up the second letter- the special letter. "This is just to the mail office…to somewhere else…" almost trembling, she released it as he went to take it from her.

Now he'll see who it's addressed to, thought Mouda with building anticipation. Then he'll read it, and I'll have succeeded in presenting my feelings to him. Whether he accepts them or not…I won't regret it…my first love!

Without even glancing down at the second letter he shoved it into his pocket and gave her a thumbs-up. "Leave it to me, Mouda! A hard working girl like you shouldn't have to walk all that distance, after all"

The farm girl felt her boiling, giddy emotions deflate. Her face almost went to mirror the sensation, but she held her thankful smile in place.

He didn't _look?!_ Shrilled both her heart and mind, which were thinking in unison for once. Why didn't he look? He was supposed to look! He was supposed to see that it was from _me_ to _him_ and he was going to read my words of _love_ for him! _Curses!_

Ace quickly busied himself with attaching his gun and knife belts to his waist, adjusting his now dried boots and placing his hat firmly on his head.

"Shall I see you off to your boat?" she spouted randomly, yearning to spend at least a few more moments with him.

"Sure" he grinned, waiting for her to hop off the ledge she sat on before he started to walk towards the property gate. "So," he started conversationally. "You run this farm by yourself?"

"For now I do" she answered, surprised at how her tongue didn't become tied like she had expected it to. "Ma and da are away working right now, but they'll be finished their contract soon so then I'll just be a farm hand rather then the owner, taha…"

Why did I laugh at that? Was it supposed to be funny? _Stupid_ Mouda, she scalded herself.

"Still, that's pretty amazing" he told her, tucking his hands behind his head as they walked. "You're really good at being independent! Most girls your age back in my home town cling to their parents for help"

The compliment made her flush, and she pretended to shake the bangs out of her eyes to lessen the color on her cheeks.

"W-where is your home town, Ace…?" daringly, she managed to call him by his first name without even adding in an honorific to it. Would he think a younger girl being informal as something rude?

"It's a little town in East Blue called Fuchsia. You probably haven't heard of it, right?"

He didn't seem upset at her unexplained informality, so she smiled and shook her head at him. "No, I've never heard of it. Is it a nice place?"

He shrugged at the question. "Same as any old town, I guess. We have a good bar though. The bartender, Makino, she's great"

Makino? Mouda repeated in her head distressfully. "Is she your girlfriend?" the question had meant to stay in her head, but her mouth wouldn't stay shut long enough for her brain to process this.

"_Makino?!_" he exclaimed incredulously. "No way! Sure, she's nice, but she's also old enough to be my mom!" he laughed loudly at the words. "That's crazy!"

"Tahaha…" Mouda laughed on the sidelines, feeling embarrassed at asking something so personal on impulse while another part of her cheered with relief.

The sudden noise of heavy footsteps was heard behind them, and Ace whipped around, looking alert. Mouda turned around as well in reaction to this, only to spot Moo-moo waddling towards them as quickly as she could manage.

"Oh, Moo-moo, go back to the house!" the girl pleaded, pushing at the cow's head as it tried to lick her face. "_Stop_ it, Moo-moo!"

"Your animals must be really attached to you to follow you off the property" Ace commented, snickering as the cow mooed loudly at its owner's protests.

"Actually, I think Moo-moo was just wondering where I was going with you" Mouda explained as the animal calmed itself. "She was all curious with who the new human was, after all. You were unconscious at the time so you couldn't introduce yourself, though" the farm girl patted the cow's head. "This is Portgas D. Ace! Say hello to the nice man!"

Moo-moo waddled up to him, giving the man a nudge with its head. He grinned at the barnyard animal, patting it on the head as Mouda had done.

"Heya, Moo-moo!" he told the animal fondly. "Don't be causing trouble for Mouda, alright?"

The girl blushed at his request, smiling as the cow mooed in response, Ace turning back round.

The trio was walking, and before Mouda knew it Ace had hopped onto a raft-like boat and was waving at her with the ad envelope in hand, saying some sort of farewell to her. The wind picked up and the plain white shirt Ace had yet to remove rippled in the breeze, and the girl found herself thinking that he made the boring old shirt look amazingly good.

Stunned, she waved at him with a hand fisted at her chest, heart pounding as he smiled at her one final time, the motorized boat speeding quickly out of sight.

Moo-moo started to chew on the grass at her feet, and Mouda lowered her hands to her sides, a faint sniff escaping her.

With her small pink mouth turned downwards, tears welled in her eyes as a hot feeling different then the one she experienced when looking at Ace filled her, the sensation nothing close to pleasant as it scorched her insides.

"He didn't…read my letter…"

* * *

Ever since seeing volume six through nine of "Ace's Hunt for Blackbeard" on the cover pages of the One Piece chapters, I though that Mouda looked absolutely smitten with Ace. Ace going through all that trouble to deliver her letter (though he got a little side-tracked) was also nice of him even though he must have been pretty busy with looking for Blackbeard.

Consequently, I thought this would be a lovely little pairing to support, its fandom no doubt being even more obscure then Shanks/Makino.

However, there was a problem of Mouda having almost no background information or personality, as she's only seen a little bit, mostly looking cheerful, if a bit flustered. So I felt at home filling in the holes in her character, being the OC author that I am, and I look forward to fleshing her out! I hope everyone is as excited as I am at seeing where her feelings will take her!


	2. A Country Girl's Departure

A Country Girl's Departure

It had been about three months since Ace had left her home, one letter in hand to be delivered to the local marine base and another in his pocket to go to the mail office, or that was what she told him, anyways. Her ma and da who were working as chiefs for the marines' catering ship received the first letter and stopped by quickly afterwards. Now they had finished their contract and were at home again, tending to the farm.

Mouda was currently squinting at her bathroom mirror, tying her hair up into two loose pigtails that sat near the base of her head. She had grown her platinum blonde hair to a longer length since meeting Ace, determined to become more feminine and woman-like. The change in hair style had longer bits that usually covered her ears falling in her face, so it was sometimes troublesome when working, but after many years of puzzlement the farm girl finally understood the other girls on the island and their need to put their appearances ahead of personal comfort and common sense.

Comfort or sense couldn't be applied when one was trying to capture the attention of others, she realized, though she couldn't say she wasn't comfortable. She liked the hair parted off her neck, as it made her skin stay much cooler during the day. The longer strands of hair fell into her eyes a little bit, which wasn't really anything new- her plain, choppy, doll-like bangs did that before anyways. She still had her bangs too, the girl uncertain if she could pull off a different cut after having it for the first fifteen years of her life.

Her task complete, Mouda stepped back and observed herself in the mirror. Her platinum blonde hair was accented by dark blue ribbons holding her pigtails in place. The ribbons matched her eyes, the girl's irises being a deep navy color. She smoothed down her bangs again, displeased with the fluffiness her hair was displaying that morning.

She had improved with her skill of shaving, as the girl had taken to wearing slightly shorter skirts in her quest for femininity. Smooth legs were practically a must, though not many people came by to see her anyways. The dress she wore today was white and reached her knees, with little fish patterns along the trimming for decoration. Her usual work boots were on her feet and she had on an apron style overdress she had gotten into the habit of wearing to keep her nicer dresses underneath from getting dirty. The new clothes she had requested her mother buy were a surprise to the woman as well as slightly expensive, so she couldn't go getting them messy.

Finally finished with her appraisal, Mouda exited the bathroom, nearly bumping into her mother in the process.

"You look cute again today, Mouda!" the woman told her with a pudgy smile. That was no doubt where Mouda had received her perpetual baby face that refused to grow into a more womanly sort of appearance as the blonde so desired.

"Thank you, ma" she tried to smile at the compliment offered. It was supposed to be a compliment, anyways, but _cute_ hadn't really been what Mouda was aiming for. Pretty, maybe, but being called cute just made her feel younger rather then older.

"Your da's been getting more and more worried that his little girl is going out to charm the local boys!" her mother continued, chuckling as a red tinge covered her face.

"Tahaha…" Mouda's laugh was half-hearted. She had absolutely no interest in someone local, and he wasn't young enough to be called a boy, either. Part of her worried about what her parents would think if they ever found out about the object of her affections and the reason why she was making such effort to look mature.

Three months ago she had been saddened at the turn of events that befell her, with Ace not actually _looking_ at the second letter she had handed to him. She had meant for him to learn of her feelings for him, and that seemed impossible once he had stuffed the folds of paper into his pocket. She had gone back home feeling that her hopes and dreams had been crushed.

Once she had settled down at her kitchen table, she stopped focusing on feeling things and started thinking about them instead, which let her sense of logic kick in.

It didn't matter if he looked at the envelope right away or not, because the letter was addressed to him and he had mailed it! The mail service was very reliable in the grand line, so even if it was just a name without a specific location, they would be able to deliver it to him without fail. Then he would read of her affections for him, and be it in a letter or in person, she would get his response!

It was taking a long time for him to reply, though.

Her transformation was achieved during the three months of waiting the girl had endured, and while she ate breakfast Mouda concluded that she still had a long way to go if she was only being called cute, so Ace could keep on taking his time. Men who came to buy milk and dairy products tipped their hats to her and called her ma'am instead of missy, and boys would sometimes follow her with their eyes when she went into town for supplies, but she couldn't find those reactions as something satisfying unless it was from Ace himself.

"Ma," she spoke up suddenly, not even sure why the words were coming out of her mouth. "How did you know you were in love with da?"

"How, darling?" her mother questioned while scrubbing off the pan she had used to cook eggs in. "Oh…I'm afraid I can't explain. When you're in love, you'll just know!"

"Oh"

That hadn't been helpful to her.

"How did you meet?" was her next question, the blonde farm girl tucking a pigtail behind her shoulder after it slipped forward, coming dangerously close to her glass of milk.

"In culinary school, sweetie. As a girl I'd always dreamed of a more romantic setting to meet the man I'd marry, but in the end it was something very common. Why the sudden curiosity?"

"It's nothing!"

Mouda's mother raised a brow as her daughter started gulping her milk.

* * *

It had been later that day when Mouda was washing dirt from her face and arms after helping her father that her mother poked her head into the bathroom.

"Mouda?" she started, holding up a crisp white envelope. "A letter from the mail office, dear"

"Really?!" the blonde girl bolted from the sink with the tap still running, snatching at the letter with damp fingers. Eagerly she tore at the sealed paper, not bothering to look it over at all as she did so. What she found inside was strangely _another_ envelope, and she eyed it with an odd expression, starting at befuddlement and slowly twisting into complete disbelieve.

The envelope's return address was mail office two-nine-three, from a Miss Mouda. The area where one would usually put the destination address only had the name Portgas D. Ace written on it, and across the whole length of the envelope itself was a stamp made out in blearing red ink that read, 'UNABLE TO BE DELIVERED'.

"_What?!_" she shrieked, the envelope she had torn open crunching loudly in her little fingers. "_Why NOT?!_"

"What is it? What's the matter?" her mother ran back to the bathroom upon hearing her daughter's screams. "What was the letter about, Mouda?"

"I- this- impossible, I-" she cut herself off. Brushing her drying fingers over her eyelids and taking a deep breath, the girl carefully secured her hold on the letter that held her feelings while throwing the abused envelope in the trash. "I'm going out for a bit, ma!"

Without waiting for a response from her worried looking mother Mouda tore out of the bathroom and to her front door, swinging the door open with all lack of care when it slammed against the wall. Not pausing for breath she sprinted down to her property entrance, which was connected to a dusty old road that if walked along, took you to the mail office two hours away.

Legs and lungs positively on fire as she ran, her hair completely disheveled and her dress hiked up in a way she would usually consider very inappropriate, Mouda turned two hours into fifty minutes.

Flinging open the front entrance to the mail office made the bell above the door clang painfully in the air, but the blue eyed girl couldn't hear it through the pounding of blood in her ears and her own heavy breathing. Heaving in air like an overworked race horse until she felt oxygen fill her, she walked briskly up to the front desk and slammed her returned letter onto it, along with her fist for good measure.

"I need _someone_ to _explain this_ to me!" she growled, her young, girlish voice hindering the amount of intimidation she was able to inflict on the old man behind the countertop.

At the speed of a well aged turtle he turned to her, his eyes looking huge behind the thick lenses of his glasses.

"Yes, miss?" he seemed to creak out the words.

"Don't _yes miss_ me!" she snapped, waving the red stamped envelope in front of his face. "Why can't this be delivered?!"

Pursing his wrinkled lips, the elderly man gingerly took the letter from her hands and pushed his glasses up his nose, squinting at the writing on it. His expression looked almost startled, and he made an obvious effort to cover it up as he turned away to cough.

"Well?" she pressed, fixing her hair as she waited for a reply.

"A-ah…perhaps it is because you had only put the recipient's name, and not an address at which we could find them?" the elder suggested, though his sudden fidgeting and inability to look at her as he spoke said that wasn't the reason, and Mouda knew it.

"No, that's not why!" she crossed her arms over her developing chest. "The mail system in the grand line is the very best in the world, here included! Even if it's just a name, you can track down the recipient and make sure they get what needs to be delivered to them! So what make things so different for just this letter?!"

The man looked almost afraid, though Mouda had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't because of her strict words, as much as she would have liked it to be so.

"That is…I do believe the reason would be because of who this particular letter is addressed to, miss. If the recipient is in an area where we are prohibited from entering, we cannot deliver the letter…" his glassy green eyes looked over her frowning face for a moment before he sighed. "Have you read the news recently, miss, if you don't mind me asking?"

Mouda couldn't stop her frown from slipping into a confused line across her face. "The news? What for? Please, don't change the subject!"

He sighed again, bending down with a good deal of effort to reach something below the counter. He straightened himself and presented her with a relatively new looking newspaper section. Puzzled, she took it from him and began skimming the various articles.

"The imprisonment was announced about a month ago, but his execution was decided only recently. I know this particular newspaper section is really only for the interest of pirates, but I do suggest you make a habit of reading every section regardless of your interests, as it will widen your view of the world and improve your intellect…that aside, why might you have been attempting to mail a letter to this pirate, Mouda? A simple country girl doesn't need to be involving herself in these sorts of things, and I feel your parents would be gravely upset if they were to find out about thi-"

Mouda cut him off with a strangled wail, throwing the newspaper down onto the floor before pulling her letter out of his grasp and running out the way she had came, tears already starting to fall down her cheeks.

* * *

The married woman had not a clue how to react when her fifteen year old daughter returned home after spontaneously leaving about three hours before, sobbing loudly even as she went into her room and slammed her door shut, locking it tight.

"Mouda?" her mother knocked on the door softly after the sobbing had finally drifted into faint sniffles. "Can I come in?"

"No" was the muffled reply.

"Please? I want to know what's wrong with my little girl…"

"I'm not a little girl, ma!" said the tear drenched voice. "Don't say that!"

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I just…"

"I'm fine!" Mouda chocked unconvincingly. "Please leave me alone for a little while!"

"But…" sighing, the woman pulled herself away from the door. "I'll be here if you want to talk to me…"

"I say!" started the voice of Mouda's father, who was exiting the bedroom belonging to him and his wife. "Has anyone seen that shirt of mine? You know, the ivory colored one with the buttons?"

"You mean your white shirt, dear? Now's not really the best time…"

The sound of her parent's voices faded away as they traveled to their bedroom.

Mouda sighed weakly as she collapsed on her bed once more. Ace slept in this bed, the girl thought with bittersweet feelings. He had been under these covers and had his face on this pillow and the bed was still warm after he had left…

…I was sure I must have fallen in love with him, and I so eagerly wanted him to know that, even if I was just a girl and he was a grown man. I promised I wouldn't regret it as I wrote out my feelings for him and ran my tongue across the bitter tasting film to seal the envelope…

…My hopes fell and rose again after he had departed, and I worked so hard to improve myself, tried so hard to become more like a woman, to suit him better if he were to like me back…

…I think I was doing a good job…

…But…

"But…" she whimpered, her eyes starting to water again. "He's going to be executed? He's going to die? To die without knowing my feelings…all I wanted was to find out if he liked me back or not, to have him at least accept my love for him…" she pressed her face to the frilly white pillow that was wet with tears, making her skin itch. "Why couldn't he have just read the letter from the beginning? Or…or better yet, couldn't I have just told him myself? If I was a bit more brave…it's an intimate thing, love…things like that should be said aloud, anyways…how stupid of me…if I had done that, then things might not have worked out like this…I wouldn't be feeling like this…I should have done that…stupid…"

As Mouda continued muttering to herself, wind swept through her open window and pushed the letter she had wrote off her nightstand, the folds of paper gliding over to her dresser where a pair of new boots lay. It was by far the best pair of boots she had ever owned. They were made of a soft brown material with beautiful, thin white fur around the top, which stopped a little before her knees. Much more womanly then her dull old work boots.

She hadn't had a chance to wear them yet.

"Things like that should be said in person" she mumbled, her eyes not quite clear as she stared at her letter, which had settled at the tips of her unworn boots. "I should have told him right from the start, then he'd have known before getting captured…he's not dead yet though…he'll be dead soon, but he's not dead yet…" slowly, Mouda's eyes lost their fogginess, the blue orbs widening. "He's not dead…!"

Leaping up from her bed she scrambled over to where her letter lay, picking it up gently and setting it on her nightstand once more before kicking off her work boots. They hit the wall adjacent to her, the loud noise going unregistered in the girl's ears.

"God…" she started, pulling on her new boots that had yet to be broken in. "God must have given me this chance! Getting the letter sent back was a test! Now I have a time limit to fight through, and marines, but surely I would have found out after he was dead if there was no hope at all!"

Adrenaline rushed through her as she bounded to her desk, grabbing a sturdy leather bag she owned for rare traveling purposes, usually for going into the woods for a picnic or something similar to that.

Food was to be packed, but she wasn't going on a picnic.

It took a while to sneak into the kitchen when her mother wasn't there, pilfering various foods that weren't likely to rot or become stale quickly. Slipping out the front door, she skittered to the shed where they kept their work tools, taking a small knife, a sharpening stone and a fair length of rope from the shelves. Then Mouda bolted back to her room and gathered up a few articles of clothing and some final items she thought might be useful.

Her money pouch entered the bag as well, fat with saved allowance and money earned from her own solitary work on the farm. Her precious stationary kit that had served her so well in the past was the final item to be collected.

Before placing the kit in her bag she withdrew a pen from it and picked up a sheet of paper on the far side of the desk, laying it out in front of her.

Her writing hand trembled as the pen hovered over the white surface.

"It's not like…I can say goodbye to them in person" she breathed, eyes watering for a different reason then before. "They aren't going anywhere. I'll see them again. Ace is going to be executed, so before that happens I have to tell him love him in person, and to do that, I need to sacrifice saying goodbye to ma and da in person…"

Gathering up her final bits of resolve, Mouda's pen touched the paper, ink blotching and soaking through the paper as she hesitated, her hand moving while her heart felt uncertain of whether or not what she was writing this time was true.

_**I**__'m __**no**__t __**a**__ l__**itt**__le __**girl a**__nymo__**r**__e, so don__**'t**__ wo__**rr**__y abo__**u**__t me. __**I**__'ll __**se**__e you __**aga**__in __**s**__oo__**n**__. U__**nti**__l __**th**__en, __**I h**__ave __**so**__me__**thin**__g __**i**__mpo__**rt**__ant to __**do.**__ T__**han**__k yo__**u**__ for __**th**__e n__**e**__w __**boo**__ts. T__**hey**__ fit __**m**__e we__**l**__l.  
_

Mouda let out a shaky breath she had been holding in and picked up her bag, making one final trip across her room to retrieve the letter still waiting for her on the nightstand. Crawling onto her bed, she savored the feeling of being home one last time before slipping out of her window.

Moo-moo had spotted her as she began walking down the path she and Ace had took to get to his boat, and it took many begs and pleas to make the cow waddle away from her. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes again as she shuffled down the vague path, Moo-moo's bell jingling in the distance.

Once finding the end of the path she walked along the shoreline for about an hour and a half until she reached the harbor. Upon renting a little sailing boat and leaving the dock, she realized while feeling quite trapped that she had no means of guiding herself to Ace's whereabouts. Moving through the waters aimlessly, Mouda bit her lip and looked at the sunny skies above her for a while. She didn't know exactly how long, but the sun had drifted pretty far through the sky and her neck hurt a lot. She couldn't see the island anymore. There wasn't any turning back now, was there?

I put my trust in god when I left, she told herself, her insides a mix of resolved calmness and terrified unsettlement. I should do the same now. If Ace was meant to know about my feelings for him, no matter what he thinks of them in the end, then I will be successful in reaching him. Help will find me. I shouldn't worry…

Expelling her worries, the farm hand dropped herself onto the boat's small span of planks, slowly falling asleep as the sun started to drift below the horizon.

In her dreams she saw a waddling cow, her parents weeping over an ink stained piece of paper, and Ace grinning at her with a letter in his hand.

* * *

So my sisters and their friends had come home after partying at I assume about two in the morning, waking me from some rather wonderful Ace/Mouda dreams. The oldest of my sisters had been chatting with her friends 'till about four-thirty, during which I had been lolling in and out of sleep. Finally I just got up and decided to write the rest of this chapter, since I'd thought of some pretty good lines while trying to sleep.

Putting that aside, I've always pictured Mouda as a light blonde, since the color looks innocent and would probably further the clueless country girl feeling I get from her. Her eyes were inked black in the manga (though I suppose pretty much everyone's are...) so I figured blue would be nice, maybe a unique darker shade.

I liked writing angry Mouda and crying Mouda. It was a nice change in mood, since she was ever so cheerful last chapter. Then I had to go back to cheerful Mouda. Not that I mind cheerful Mouda! I just liked the variety, is all. And at the end we got a bit of hopeful/lost Mouda. The girl's actions may have seemed a bit foolish this chapter, mostly because they were foolish. After all, she's only fifteen (so says my rough estimate), and although she's shown being able to fend for herself, that doesn't necessarily mean her brain functions with perfect rationality all the time. Love also makes people stupid- if she can prove its love and not just a crush, that is. I felt I did a good job of displaying a girl's inner thoughts on why we sometimes disregard common sense, like how some of us wear skirts in the winter and clip off our cuticles.

No Ace this chapter. I doubt he'll be in the next chapter either, and maybe not even the one after that. But we meet a character who I bet none of you expected me to include in this story. Ooh, who could it be? Tell me your guess in a review!


	3. A Country Girl's Plea

A Country Girl's Plea

It was the continuous thudding footsteps near her ears that woke her, rather then the noise of cawing seagulls or the sound of sails flapping in the wind. A figure pacing back and forth was near by, but their appearances or even what direction they were looking in was obscured by the rays of sunlight beating down on her. Mouda's vision blurred at the sudden intrusion of light in her eyes, and she lifted up a hand to throw it over her face.

"You're awake!" the voice came in the same direction as the pacing figure, the footsteps stopping for a moment to only come closer to her, right near her ear. "Please, say somethin- wait, you're probably dehydrated, right? I'll get you some water! Just stay still and rest!"

The footsteps picked up again, becoming hard and loud in her ears as the mystery person ran from her to…somewhere else.

Mouda sat up slowly, feeling sleepy and out of place. Her blonde hair- which must have come loose of its ribbons, for it was sticking to her neck through sweat- slipped over her shoulder some as she rubbed at her eyes, finally opening them to the world again

She wasn't on the little boat that she had fallen asleep in.

Quickly and full of panicky thoughts she stood up, ignoring the dizziness that came with the motion in favor of whipping her head around, trying to figure out where she was and what had happened to her little sea craft.

She was on a much, much larger boat then the one she had rented. Mouda could tell she was on just a small closed-off section of the boat and that alone seemed large. Whirling to the sails still being beaten loudly by the wind, she saw the unmistakable symbol of the marines on them. So she was picked up by a marine ship, then?

The girl didn't know if that was good or not.

The marines are the ones holding Ace captive, right? Mouda speculated cautiously. Since he's a pirate that makes them his enemy. So I should consider them my enemy, too, but marines are supposed to be help others, so I should trust them, but they want to kill Ace so I shouldn't do that-

Never mind, Mouda concluded, pulling her fingers through her tangled hair. Thinking about that is only making me confused. I shouldn't judge people simply on their way of living, after all. Pirates are supposed to be bad, but Ace was very nice. And the marines are supposed to be good, but they want to kill a nice person like Ace! So I should just decide on whether someone's an enemy or not by how they act personally.

Back to the matter at hand, though. Just where had her boat gone? She wasn't supposed to loose it- it was only rented, after all…

"I'm back- oh no! What are you doing up? Please, sit back down!"

Mouda turned to see a boy- yes, he was no doubt a boy, not much older then her- with pink hair and a strange headband with glasses resting over them. Clad in standard marine colors, he approached her with a glass of water in hand.

"Water for you, miss! I bet you're exhausted, right?" as she took the glass from him and drank its contents, the boy continued talking. "We found saw your boat floating around with you passed out in it! What happened to cause you to drift so far out to sea?"

"I…" Mouda thought of how to explain what had happened. "I was lost"

"Lost?" he echoed in a questioning tone.

"I- I got so far away from my island that I couldn't see it anymore, a-and I don't have a log-post with me so, so I wasn't able to tell which way was what…eventually I just fell asleep"

He nodded in understanding. "That's truly unfortunate. But why were you sailing so far away from home?" he took a seat on the deck. "Please, sit down"

Instead of complying with the boy's request to sit down with him, Mouda sucked in her breath upon recalling _exactly_ _why_ she had sailed so far from home, and her strong feelings during that time, and the sheer desperation that was suddenly entrapping her once more. The glass dropped from her hands, thudding loudly at her feet.

Lunging for him, she clamped onto his shoulders with tiny farm-able fingers.

"You're a marine, aren't you?!" she asked with a squeak, almost shaking him.

"I-" he paused, possibly startled by the sudden urgency displayed on the farm girl's face or how sharply her nails dug into his coat. "I am!" his chest puffed with a tiny bit of pride. "Yes, I am a marine. This is vice-admiral Garp's ship! He's training me! Currently, I am the rank of chief petty officer"

"So," Mouda urged, not caring about whose ship this was or what the boy was doing on it. "You help people, don't you? People in need? _No matter whom they are_, so long as they are in distress?"

Another dose of pride filled his chest cavity. "That's absolutely right, miss! It is my lifelong goal to help anyone I possibly can! Catching evil-doers and protecting the weak- it's the entire reason why I joined the marines!"

He smiled righteously, only to have the smile twist into a grimace as Mouda started shaking him.

"Then you _have_ to _help me!_" she shrilled loudly. "_The man I love is going to be MURDERED!_"

"Wha- _murdered_, you say?!" the chief petty officer got to his feet, holding onto her arms to stop her from shaking him any more. "Where is he now? How did this happen?"

"He- he was captured!" she tried to explain with as little detail as possible while regaining her composure. This boy was a good person, at least that was what her senses were telling her, and so he might help even if he did know the whole situation. For now, though, it might be best to keep things vague. "He's going to be killed soon if I don't help him!"

"Who are these captors?" the boy questioned. "Why are they planning on killing him?"

"I- I don't know _who_ they are!" she stammered, and it wasn't a lie. She had no idea of what the names of the marines who took him in were. "I wasn't there- I just received word of it a day ago! He upset them somehow, but nothing could be worth _killing_ him over it! Killing is _wrong_, no matter what!"

"I agree completely!" he nodded, moving his grip from her arms to the girl's hands. "Killing is terrible! Don't worry, miss, I'll help you save him! You have my word as a marine!"

"Oh, thank you! I'm glad!" she cried, not sure if the tears in her eyes were from the happiness she was feeling from gaining his help, the building emotions she held for the captive spoken of, or just the bright sunlight that continued to prick at her eyesight.

"Where is he being held?" was the marine's next question, both of them feeling worked up by the discussion.

"Impel Down," she replied unthinkingly. "But he's being executed soon; I don't know how much time I have to reach him"

"That is _extremely_ coincidental!" the boy exclaimed, gripping her hands tighter. "You are very lucky, miss! This ship is headed for Impel Down as we speak!"

"Really?!" Mouda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That _is_ very lucky!"

"Yes, we have orders to oversee the execution of the pirate Portgas D. Ace! It will be my first time attending such an important affair and I'm…very…" he trailed off, staring at the blonde girl with steadily narrowing eyes. She looked back at his changed expression with a growing sense of unease.

* * *

"Wait!" Mouda cried, stretching her hand through the bars of the cell located in the ship's lowest deck. "Wait, please! Please don't leave me here!"

The marine boy turned back to her after starting to walk away, his expression a mix of authority and guilt.

"I'm sorry, miss" he told her, and meant it. "If you intend to free a pirate such as him, then as a marine I cannot allow it…" the boy looked to the side, his pink hair falling over his eyes a little as he did so. "You will probably be able to return to your home without quarrel if you say it was only child's play- a story you made up for the thrill of adventure. Otherwise you will be severely punished, perhaps even executed along side him"

He looked at Mouda again, his voice imploring. "Please, forget about this endeavor of yours"

"No!" she snapped, both hands gripping the bars now. "How could I even think of that? I don't care about punishment! I can't return home without him knowing anything! I'd gladly be executed if I could just tell him that I love him! If I could do that and find out how he feels in turn, then go ahead and kill me!"

"I won't be the one killing you, miss" he told her, eyes shadowed again. "Like I have said, I agree with you. Killing is terrible. I also believe that throwing away one's life for frivolous reasons is terrible. Please reconsider"

"It is _not _frivolous!" she shrilled, tears building in her deep blue eyes. "Leave, then, if _that's _what you think! _Go away!_"

The marine did just that, boots tapping solidly on the floor below them as he carried himself upstairs, leaving Mouda by herself to sniffle and rub at the wetness in her eyes. Her tears felt very warm, but in a way that made her cry even more, because the warmth was so similar to the kind she felt during the short lived moment spent with Ace three months prior, but it hurt knowing that is wasn't the same at all. Nothing could be the same as that, not even if it were tears of happiness searing her cheeks.

"Clam down!" she sobbed at herself. "You have to _calm down!_ If all you do is cry, you won't be able to help anyone! Not yourself and _especially_ not _Ace!_" she spoke that last part with a chocking scoff, using the hand that wasn't rubbing at her eyes to cover her mouth.

Don't cry, Mouda! She pleaded with herself. You're being taken to where Ace is, whether they like it or not! You just need to escape somehow! You'll find a way! Just don't panic over it!

But their marines, and I'm just a little country girl! I can't do anything!

You can be very resourceful when you need to be! Her optimistic half urged. You're good at being independent! Ace said so himself, right? And look, he's a strong pirate! Marines can't stop you!

"Then why am I trapped here, in a place where I couldn't possibly escape from on my own?" the blonde asked herself aloud as her hand moved away from her lips, another sniffle echoing off the walls.

* * *

She couldn't recall falling asleep, but she must have, for when she opened her eyes the cell was illuminated by moonlight, and the barred door in front of her aching blue eyes creaked open with a grinding of hinges and the jingling of keys. A figure appeared in front of her, its color looking off-white in the natural light of the moon and the shadows of the room.

"I forgot about it earlier" started the slightly familiar voice of a boy. "You must not have eaten in some time. I've brought you a small meal"

"Why feed me?" she asked in a bitter sort of tone she didn't know she could make. "I'll die soon anyways"

"Probably…but if you don't eat, you won't have enough strength to at least try and save him, right?" a tray of bread and what she assumed to be some sort of cold meat was placed in front of her. "I had merely been speaking on impulse earlier. Your ambitions are not frivolous. When someone is willing to risk their life for something they believe in…that is a very admirable thing, even if it is something dislikeable" he paused, shifting his weight from one foot to another, and then back again, hinting to Mouda that the marine might have been feeling uncomfortable at that moment. "You seem like a very…admirable girl, miss. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Coby. May I ask your name?"

Licking her dried lips, she answered.

"Mouda" he echoed, getting a feel of her name. "…Goodbye, Mouda-san"

With too much suddenness he began to move towards the cell door, and the blonde girl ignored the food in front of her face to get to her knees, reaching out just quick enough to take hold of the hem of his coat. Not sure on what she was intending to do by tugging on it, he stopped moving and looked back at her, the lenses of his glasses glinting off the moonlight.

"You gave me your word" she said to him, finally grasping what she wanted to say to him. She hadn't proper knowledge of the world, but she had her feelings, and that much she understood well enough. "You promised to help me, Coby. You promised on the honor of being a marine that you would help me, because I desperately needed help. I still need help. Even if I'm just a little country girl and he's a grown man, a pirate that doesn't care about me at all, I still need to tell him how I feel, and I need you to help me do that"

"I…I…" he couldn't seem to speak.

"You swore you would help me save someone I love, Coby" she murmured, gazing up at him with eyes that looked like the ocean, shining as they welled.

Coby watched as moonlit tears traveled down her face, his eyes straining in the darkness to look for some sort of falsehood in her words.

"Help me" she pleaded.

Slowly and with all the sincerity of a boy who wished to help the girl in front of him regardless of whether he was a marine or not, he nodded, shutting the cell door and locking it with keys that jingled together.

"We will reach Enies Lobby tomorrow" he told her through the bars. "Please eat your meal, and try to rest well. I will wake you in the morning, before we are to prepare for the execution ceremony"

There was a pause, with not even the jingling keys to break the silence.

"Goodnight, Mouda-san" he told her finally, breathing odd to her ears.

"Goodnight, Coby" she said back to him, picking up the bread he had brought for her. "Thank you"

Coby left in a rush, almost running out of the cell area. Mouda chewed steadily on her bread as he disappeared. The blonde girl nibbled at the meat as well, avoiding the fatty areas with distaste.

Finishing with the food, she pushed the plate aside and lay back down on the cold floor, trying hard to conjure up the sensation of warm skin touching hers. A handshake from three months ago came to mind, and her hands clasped each other, the memory of surprising heat flowing through her fingertips putting her to sleep.

The moonlight shifted and glinted off the cell's bars, splashing across her face like water. The pale light did nothing to affect her sleep, however, and she curled herself up tight, the girl's mouth curving into a smile while the rest of her features displayed sadness.

* * *

And so, the character I mentioned to appear in this chapter is COBY!! He's ALMOST as obscure as…as…MAKINO!! But not as obscure as Mouda. Are you surprised?! Disappointed?? Happy? Just don't give a damn and are wishing that I made the chapter longer?

Well, I also would have liked to make this chapter longer, but as I write events according to the chapter title (my writing the title before the chapter is special to this story only), I couldn't possibly put in anymore as it'd just be nothing more then filler junk. Mouda was finished with her pleas for the day and I couldn't do any more with it.

That aside, I solved my 'how will Mouda get to Ace?' plot hole rather well! And I introduced a character who isn't difficult for me to write, so that's good too. Now I must use all the skills I do not have to write up a sneaky break-in-and-rescue for this very obscure pair. Coby should helpful. He can use soru, after all. At the very least, he can have him and Mouda escape quickly. My apologies if the next update isn't quite as fast as this one, I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work. The site I was reading the manga off of (though I read from One Manga now) was missing eighty chapters and picked up again when they were in the midst of saving Robin, so there are a few blank spots in my knowledge about Enies Lobby and Impel Down. Feel free to explain the whole shebang to me in a review or PM, but if I'm feeling too doubtful I might just have to go read those missing chapters.

Thanks to that one reviewer who's been…well, reviewing. I hope to hear from you again, and from newcomers as well!


	4. A Country Girl's Entry

A Country Girl's Entry

It was early in the morning when Coby had awoken her with gentle shaking, the two of them wordlessly slipping off the boat and into the large, large building they were docked at. Enies Lobby, she could only assume, having not seen it clearly from the outside.

Once safely inside Coby ushered her into an empty room and handed her an assortment of white and blue clothing before promptly stepping back outside and shutting the door behind him.

"Um…?" she voiced, confused by all of this.

"P-please change into that, Mouda-san" he stammered from outside. "I-it's a spare marine uniform I found for you. It will be less suspicious for you to be walking around with me if you're dressed like that"

"Ah!" she clapped her hands, nearly dropping the uniform in the process. "Good idea, Coby!"

"…Yes!"

The girl heard him cough strangely from behind the door.

"What's the matter?" she inquired while removing her clothing, putting on the marine uniform. This felt strange- she'd never worn pants before…

"I-I'm just nervous!" he stuttered. "I…doing something like this…I sort of wish I was stronger…! Like…like…" his mumbles faded away as he waited for her to finish changing.

Mouda opened the door, making Coby jump a little. Stepping outside clad in white pants that had been tucked into her boots, a white sleeveless shirt with blue trimming and a blue bandana around her neck, she looked no different then a petty officer one would find aboard a marine ship.

"Can I bring my other clothes?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh…no, I'm afraid you'll have to leave them here, Mouda-san"

She sighed in disappointment as they walked down a hall. That was one of her favorite dresses, the one with little fishes around the trimming...

They were walking down stairs now, with many doors lining the walls.

"Coby?" she voiced, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"Well…" he rubbed the back of his head, continuing to walk in front of her as he spoke. "Impel Down is an underwater prison. The way to reach the prison when escorting a prisoner there is through the gates of justice, which requires traveling through the entire building of Enies Lobby itself. However, there is another entrance to the prison that is underwater, located in the basement of this building. This entrance is used when collecting the prisoner for execution. But, this entrance isn't to be known about- there are even some marines that don't know about it. The only reason I have this privilege is because I'm on a vice-admiral's ship, and since I'm one of the officers meant to oversee Portgas D. Ace's execution, I have been briefed on the procedures…" the rubbing turned into scratching, and the pink haired boy looked back at her, a worried expression on his face. "P-please don't repeat that to anyone! Letting out such important information would lead to serious trouble…"

"Tahaha!" she laughed. "Don't worry, I won't!"

I barely understood that _anyways_, she thought with a drooping figure.

Silence passed over the two and Mouda straightened herself, her feet moving in time with Coby's as they marched down the seemingly endless staircase. Their footfalls began echoing as they entered a level of stairs where there were no more doors in the walls. Down, down they went, and it felt like they had been walking forever. At this rate, she felt as though they might never reach Ace, and then-

"Mouda-san..."

The sudden sound of his voice in Mouda's ears startled her, the farm hand tripping over her own feet. Managing to catch herself before falling down entirely, she fumbled with a few steps while turning her attention to what he had to say.

His pace slowed, moving down each step with a pause in between.

"You said…that you are in love with him?"

"…Yes…" she didn't have to hear the name to know who the marine was referring to.

"Why? He is a member of one of the most dangerous pirate crews in the grand line…and yet someone like you loves that sort of man…?" after trailing off, he let out a wail of some sort. "I- I'm sorry! That was rude of me, wasn't it?! It was! I won't blame you if you're angry, Mouda-san! I should just disappear-"

"I didn't know"

"Eh?" Coby turned his dropping head around to face her, the pair stopping on separate steps. "Pardon?"

"When I first met Ace, I had no idea who he was. I saved him from drowning in a river that ran through my property, and while he was unconscious, brought him to my home to rest. Once he woke up, he ate lunch with me and spoke a little bit. We shook hands as we introduced ourselves to one another. I felt that…compared to anyone I had met before that, he was special. The warm feelings in my heart…I decided that I was in love"

She paused for breath, and Coby only stared at her.

"After finding out about his execution, finding out that the pirate Portgas D. Ace was going to be executed…well, I didn't really care about what he was. I didn't think about it even once. I don't plan on thinking about it very much in the future, either. I'm not good at sorting out complicated things"

"But…what if you get tangled up in piracy? You could become a felon!"

"Then I'll become a felon" she said simply, and picked up her steps when the marine failed to do so.

"Doesn't resisting the law frighten you, Mouda-san?!" he asked desperately, following after her in a scurry.

"Not as much as Ace never replying to my letter does"

"W-what?" in the confusion of hearing her statement, Coby's misplaced foot slipped on the edge of one of the steps, the chief petty officer shrieking helplessly as gravity pulled him downwards.

Mouda turned to him after hearing the cry of distress, and saw the boy falling towards her in near slow-motion. Their foreheads came together in a painful head-butt and both wailed loudly as they plummeted down the stairs faster then their feet could ever carry them without the use of soru.

They reached the bottom of the stairwell, crashing onto the stone floor as a misshapen heap of marine colors.

"Oww…" the farm hand whimpered, eyes welling at the throbbing pain that had formed in multiple areas of her body.

"W…we're lucky we didn't break anything" Coby said in consolation. Then, like an afterthought, "you didn't break anything, did you Mouda-san?"

"I…don't know" she replied, dazed by the aching sensation covering her.

Coby untangled himself from their mess of limbs and stood, brushing off his uniform that remained a pristine white and navy blue. Some of his joints popped from the effort and the marine winced, rubbing his side gently while holding his free hand out to the girl who remained on the floor, staring up at the ceiling from a lopsided angle.

After mustering up the willpower to move, Mouda lifted an arm and let herself be pulled up, almost yelping in pain as her body straightened, her bruising form screaming at her to get back down onto the floor _right now_.

"Are you not okay after all?" the pink haired boy inquired, no doubt catching the pain filled expression on her face.

"I think I'm okay…" she said slowly, the pain fading to a distant throbbing. "That was the first time I'd fallen down quite so many steps, taha…!"

Before her silly attempt at light humor could be given a response, the sound of heavy boots hitting the floor reached their ears, the echoing coming from down the hallway. Both she and Coby turned their heads to meet the owner of the footsteps, a marine with a scraggly looking appearance and a number of keys attached to his belt.

"What was all the noise about?" the scruffy marine asked while chewing on something.

"W-we took a stumble down the stairs, I'm afraid!" Coby was quick to reply, his expression abashed and nervous.

"You're vice-admiral Garp's trainee, aren't you?" the man looked at him for a moment before turning his eyes towards Mouda. "Who's this?"

"This is Mouda- she's recently been added to the crew, and I've been placed in charge of briefing her on the execution procedures"

"So you'll be needing into the cell perimeters, eh?" the unnamed marine, still chewing vigorously on something, withdrew a skeleton key from his belt and handed it to the pink haired boy. "Don't you brats fool around in there; I'm in charge of cleaning as well as guarding"

* * *

Impel Down was a cold place. The moment they walked through the underground prison's 'back door', for lack of anything else to call it, Mouda felt an icy chill wash over her form, though no wind touched her skin.

Shivering, she and Coby walked through the darkly lit hallways wordlessly, as thought any noise would shatter the stone around them, leaving water to rush in and drown them. Then they'd never be able to make noise ever again.

Most of the cells were empty, she noted, though a few were occupied. Most of the captors were laying very still- so still her eyes wanted to mistake them for dead. One man they passed by was lying directly in middle of the floor of his cell, his form covered in a ratty brown coat that looked like it had once been very high-class. His longish, wavy hair obscured his face, a hook instead of a hand running through the strands in a near act of thoughtfulness.

The pair didn't stop walking until they found the end of the cells, Coby turning to the one on the right- it was empty.

"I don't see him, Coby" Mouda felt it was important enough to say. "Where's Ace?"

"This is his cell- he's supposed to stay here until we start the execution ceremony"

The blonde furrowed her brow. "But he isn't here"

Coby frowned slightly, lifting a hand up to cover his down-curved mouth. "They must have taken him in for a last minute attempt at information extraction" he muttered through his fingers.

Mouda didn't like the sound of the marine's words as they bounced off the greenish-grey walls and into her ears. "I don't understand" she murmured, her stomach twisting despite this.

The boy turned to her and uncovered his mouth. "In layman's terms, Mouda-san," he explained gravely, "I mean torture"

"W…what?" she breathed, not taking in what she had just been told. "What do you mean?"

"To get information" he began walking further up the hall, where there were no cells- only a few doors. "Or for amusement"

That's disgusting, she said to no one, wanting to vomit.

The pink haired marine unlocked a door to the far right, motioning for her to follow him through the threshold. "We'll go pick him up in the interrogation room"

"You mean the _torture_ room?" she said through the bile in her throat.

"Yes," he agreed faintly. "The torture room"

Getting to the said room was a brisk task, for which Mouda was thankful for. After being guided through several narrow hallways, Coby unlocked a final door and pushed Mouda behind him, his demeanor protective. The girl didn't understand why the atmosphere around the chief petty officer hand changed so suddenly, until the reek of blood hit her.

"Hey!" shouted a voice as Coby swung the door open, revealing several menacing looking figures to Mouda's eyes. "What the hell are you doing he-"

"_Soru_" the girl heard him whisper.

With a gasp escaping her lips, the boy in front of her suddenly disappeared, becoming visible again as his knee slammed into the face of the man who had yelled. The figure hit the floor, several teeth falling out of his mouth.

Stunned, the others occupying the room stared as Coby whirled on them, kicking off the ground again to become a blur of speed, his trained fist slamming into a guard's stomach so hard his eyes rolled up into his head, falling as fast as the other man had. Coby repeated this action on the figure to the far left and finished the remaining guard off with an impressive roundhouse kick to the jaw. Mouda heard something crack as the boy's foot made contact with his opponent's face, and in a moment of empathy she hoped it was just his jaw that broke, and not something more threatening.

"Wow!" she heard herself exclaim. "That was amazing, Coby! I could barely see you!"

Coby laughed weakly, catching his breath. "If you could see me at all, then I still have a lot of training to do yet…" he trailed off somberly, looking towards a shadowed portion of the room, away from all the bloodied tools and chains.

Mouda followed his gaze fearfully, ocean blue eyes looking into the darkness.

Held against the far wall by chains made from the same greenish-grey stone as the cells was Portgas D. Ace, ribbons of blood sliding across his skin.

* * *

Mouda and Coby falling down the stairs? OMG, total BFF moment.

But on to the important things… I soon realized after starting this chapter that I didn't _need_ a detailed break-in. Why? Because Mouda is a country girl. Always has been from my take on things, always will be. She doesn't know about all this crazy stuff, and even if she partook in it, she wouldn't know what the heck was going on. She wouldn't be able to describe it- and so, I would not be able to describe it, since this story only looks into Mouda's mind. The only way we'd know about things is if she asked our dear Coby. Mouda is also very concentrated on Ace at the moment, so she wouldn't be wondering 'oh, gee, what's that?', so she wouldn't be asking too many questions.

The lack of description is also me being _VERY LAZY_. Let's ignore that fact, though.

Something I feel I _MUST_ point out is the little fishes. Sometimes there will be medium fishes, but never really big ones because that's obnoxious and no longer cute. In the actual manga chapters that we see Mouda, her busy patterned skirt had some distinct fish designs close to the trim. I thought, 'oh, that's so cute!', and decided it would be an ongoing character trait for her. I mentioned in the first chapter her lavender blanket with little white fishes. In the second chapter there was the dress with the little fishes around the trimming, and in this chapter it's the same dress because she fell asleep it, and she states it was her _favorite one_, and is sad about leaving it behind. Regardless, Mouda loves that simple fish pattern. _MY_ Mouda does, anyways.

I just had a burning desire to talk about the little fishes.

I sort of left things for this chapter on a cliff-hanger, didn't I? Don't worry; there'll be actual interaction between Ace and Mouda next chapter. Well…maybe. I imagine all that torture and seastone energy would really mess with his ability to remain in a lucid state of mind. Probably won't get much chatter out of him.

As a final note, I'm sure you're all thinking that the security seemed pretty light, huh? But Ace, who's face is on a wanted poster and everything, got into a marine base posing as a captain! By all logical means he should have been caught immediately, but he wasn't. Coby IS a marine and Mouda's a nobody- much like a petty officer, and that was what she was posing as, so I think it'd be a bit harder to notice someone so discreet. Suspension of disbelief, friends, suspension of disbelief.


	5. A Country Girl's Reunion

A Country Girl's Reunion

Drops of his blood shone on the floor, mixing with her tears as Mouda rushed to Ace's chained form, kneeling in front of him with weakening legs. The girl reached towards him with small, trembling hands, fingers slipping beneath the man's hair to palm his cheeks.

"Ace?" she whispered through an undesired sob.

She had expected him to be warm and dry, like how he had felt during their handshake some three months ago. Instead he was cold- frighteningly cold, and his skin was damp with sweat and blood, the grease from his unwashed hair making her fingertips feel oily.

She lifted his head up, scared at how heavy it felt- like dead weight, even worse that if he were unconscious. Peeking through watery eyes, the farm hand saw that his own were closed to the world. She held her breath as his mouth parted slightly, letting out a whisper of air. She emptied her lungs in relief, releasing her hold to move closer to him and wrap her arms around his neck, gently cradling his head against her chest, any modesty she might have felt forgotten.

"You're alive…!" Mouda murmured breathlessly, tears of a happier sort warming her eyes.

A pair of footsteps behind her was heard, along with Coby's awkward cough.

"Um, p-pardon me, but maybe it would be best if you did this _after _escaping?" the marine requested, sounding both annoyed at the scene and guilty for interrupting.

"Oh" she mumbled, realizing he was right. "Um…sorry…" she took a moment to unwind herself from the pirate, his head lolling to the side with the loss of her frame as support.

Mouda's blue eyes looked at the chains wrapped around his wrists and forearms, wincing as she imagined the metal digging into her skin. "T-there isn't a lock on these chains, Coby" she speculated. Couldn't Ace have just slipped out of them with enough effort? Then again, it looked like he had lost a lot of blood…

"They wouldn't need one with a Devil Fruit user" the chief petty officer explained, unaware of the girl's lack in knowledge. "I'll loosen the chains, you pull his arms out of them, okay?"

"Alright!" she agreed, lifting her hands up to touch Ace's forearms, her fingertips slipping under the oddly colored chains to wait for Coby to take action.

The boy took hold of one of the chains and placed a foot on the wall, screwing up his face. He seemed to be pushing against the wall and attempting to pull the chain away from it, but all that moved was himself, his limbs shaking with the effort. Red-faced, Coby relaxed himself and took a large breath of air before bracing his leg against the wall again, and with a quick movement he jumped off the floor, twisted himself while still gripping the chain. His free foot slammed into the wall in a powerful kick and crushed the stone. After a moment of silence the chain broke away from the damaged wall and the marine fell onto the floor with a withered gasp, the seastone chains restricting Ace becoming slack.

"Wow!" Mouda exclaimed for the second time that day. "You're really strong, Coby! I mean, you shattered stone and everything!"

"It's…nothing…" he panted from the floor. "More importantly…the chains…"

The blonde girl blushed, embarrassed at forgetting her task so quickly. Careful to not scrape his skin, Mouda slipped the pirate's arms out from their restraints, yelping helplessly as Ace's now unsupported body fell to the blood stained floor, carrying her with him.

"Aahheeee!" was all she could say while being trapped beneath the unconscious man.

Coby was quick to take hold of him, pulling the pirate up and flinging him over his shoulder with a struggling intake of air.

"I'll do the moving for now, Mouda-san" the marine told her as she scrambled to her feet. He held his hand out to her insistently. "Hurry, I have to carry you while I still have enough strength"

"M-me too?" she stammered. "But I can walk just fine!"

He shook his head quickly, sweat beading on his face. "We won't be walking"

* * *

Being in someone's grip while they used soru felt like being caught in a powerful rip current. At an unnaturally fast speed she was carried to an unknown destination, powerless to stop the force pulling her. Mouda held her eyes shut tight, because even _trying_ to see hurt. The blurs registered as nothing in every possible color, all at once, making her mind go blank. With her head pressed against some indistinguishable part of Coby she felt her senses tear way from her, the wind clawing at her body as the boy accomplished the seemingly impossible feat of carrying not only her but a full grown man as well while running at an inhuman velocity.

They stopped at what looked like a harbor, and Mouda felt herself snap back into the world. Her feet touched the ground as Coby breathed heavily, shifting Ace so it was now just the pirate's arm around his neck. A layer of sweat shone on his skin in the bright sun- it must have been about noon by now.

"Now we can walk" the marine let her know. "You take the other side of him, Mouda-san, if you don't mind. I'm…I'm rather tired now"

The blonde ran dizzily to Ace's free side, wrapping his arm over her shoulder as Coby had done and gripping his wrist tight. The two started walking, dragging Ace along, and for a moment Mouda took in her surroundings. When had they been near a harbor?

"Where are we?" she questioned to the wooden docks as they walked along them.

"I can't tell you" the boy answered vaguely. "Civilians aren't supposed to know where this is. With a log post you can pick up the magnetic pull of San Faldo- please go there"

"But I don't _have_ a log post Coby!" Mouda told him frantically, already feeling her control on the situation slipping away. "Or a boat!"

He smiled despite the weight he carried, most likely with little help from the girl. "You don't have to worry. At the south end of this port I've prepared a boat for you, with your bag and a log post on board. It's a small cargo transporter used by marines, so no one will be suspicious of you"

"Good" said a new voice. "You can leave, then"

Mouda stopped walking, her eyes darting over to where Ace's head hung, his eyes open, though just barely.

"Ace!" she squeaked. "You were awake?!"

"He woke up a minute ago" Coby told her from the other side of the pirate. "You didn't notice that he was walking instead of being dragged?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" she whined. Which of them she was whining to, it wasn't very clear.

"I thought you noticed" the marine replied with a furrowed brow, before he looked at Ace with a stern expression. "And just what do you mean, 'you can leave'? I hardly think you'd be able to walk properly"

"Tch, I could if I wanted to…" the man grumbled, tilting his head towards Mouda slightly. "Why are you marines helping me, anyhow?"

"I'm not a _marine!_" the girl snapped with sudden irritation, making the black haired pirate wince. "Oh, I'm sorry…"

"…You didn't have to say it as though you were _offended_, Mouda-san…" Coby mumbled, looking dejected.

"I'm _sorry!_" she repeated with more effort.

"S'that what you'll be saying in front of the court when you're charged with attempting to free a wanted criminal from a top security prison, little lady?"

Coby let out a high pitched scream at the newest voice, making Mouda clap her hands over her ears and Ace clap his hand over the marine's mouth, muffling the noise. This chain of events disrupted the balance of the three, Mouda almost falling over as she caught Ace by his arm, barely able to pull him back up against her and then struggling even more to hold him there. Coby's part in supporting them was lost completely as the boy stared over his shoulder in something of a mindless stupor.

"Sorry" Ace muttered into her shoulder. "I'm, uh, having a bit of trouble getting my muscles to work…"

Mouda peeked at him, blood crusted over his skin and limbs trembling almost as much as hers. "It's okay" she murmured weakly. "You deserve all the rest you can get…" she swallowed her feelings. "Who is it, Coby?" the girl then asked the boy behind her, only half afraid when she looked to see a marine wearing some silly dog mask. "Who's that?"

"T-that isn't imp-portant, M-Mouda-s-s-san!" Coby stuttered back like a petrified mouse. "Y-you just k-keep walking!"

"But…" she looked to Ace's hanging head, then back to the masked marine, and finally at Coby once more. "What about you?"

"I-its okay!" the boy choked, sounding like he was about to burst into tears. "T-t-the results of my t-training will…p-persevere! Just l-like Lu-Lu-"

He couldn't seem to finish his sentence, caught up in a stammer.

The dog masked marine laughed suddenly, throwing his head back as he did so. It was loud and hearty, and Mouda didn't understand why this unknown man scared Coby so much.

I mean, she thought to herself, Coby can break _stone!_

"_You_, beat _me?!_" the mysterious marine chortled, grinning a wide grin that could be seen beneath the dog snout over his face. "Impossible, lad!"

The farmer couldn't help but notice how Ace had stopped shaking. Under any other circumstances that would have been good, but now he was too still- his body was entirely ridged as the man- who sounded like a slightly elderly man- continued to speak.

"Alright Coby, I _guess _I can let you off the hook _this_ time- you were helping my grandson, after all!"

"Yes sir!" Coby squeaked in response, giving his superior a salute. "T-thank you very much, sir- wait, _grandson?!_ But I thought _Luffy-san_ was your grandson!"

"Oh, well, you know, that's sort of a long story…"

Mouda widened her eyes as the pirate was suddenly holding _her_ up now, bracing the girl against his chest with one arm as he started to limp away from the pair of marines.

"A-Ace?" she sputtered. "Are you okay?"

"Sure"

The blue eyed girl looked up at man's pained expression in confusion. "Hey, didn't that marine just say you were his grandson?"

"Yeah" the pirate confirmed while hobbling along. "We should hurry"

"But isn't he your grandda?" she queried.

"Uh-huh" Ace nodded, picking up his pace with every step.

"So why are you running away faster?"

"ACE, MY BOY!" roared vice-admiral Garp. "I'LL GIVE YOU A HEAD START! SEE HOW KIND YOUR GRANDPA IS?!"

The man carrying her groaned before breaking into a complete run, and amazingly only falling down four or five times before they reached the south end of the port.

"Which boat is it?" he huffed weakly, looking to the blonde in his grasp who could only stare at him with a lost expression in her blue eyes.

"Um…the one with my bag on it?" she offered hesitantly.

Upon having him sigh heavily Mouda struggled out of his grip, cringing as a few of his scabs tore off onto her clothing, fresh blood seeping through the wounds. "_I'm so sorry!_" she gasped, covering her mouth as tiny trails of blood joined the dried ones over his chest.

"For what?" Ace asked back, cocking a brow. "He didn't tell you either, it isn't your fault"

"N-no, I mean…!" she stopped herself. If he wasn't going to bother over the wounds, she shouldn't either. Ace seemed to be feeling much better, which was wonderful, slight bleeding or not. "I'll check the boats. Just stay here and rest, okay?!" before he could deny her offer or even agree to it she was already hopping in and out of boats, scanning the planks for something familiar to her eyes. After several long minutes her eyes caught sight of a heavy leather bag.

"Ace!" she cheered happily, waving to his now sitting figure from the eighth cargo carrier she had searched. "Over here!"

He got to his feet slowly, limping over to her with the same stressed, confused expression as she had seen three months ago when he walked up to her, asking where he was. Wordlessly he hopped onto the boat, hissing in pain as something hurt.

"Are you okay?" Mouda wanted to know, taking a few small steps towards the pirate. "Do you want me to untie the ropes?"

"Yeah" he breathed after the pain looked to have dulled down. She stepped up onto the dock and began unraveling the ties that held the watercraft to it, and then was interrupted by him speaking again. "Thanks miss"

"Oh no!" she smiled at him. "It's not a problem at all!"

Then her body froze as what exactly he had said was realized.

…_Thanks miss…  
_

Her face was cold and stiff as she continued to smile, and Mouda felt herself shatter inside, her tiny hands now shaking during their work, as though she was touching ice. No, that wasn't right- it felt as if she _was_ ice. She was frozen water and everything she touched just might make her break further.

_Miss?_ Her mind repeated. Not _Mouda?_ He doesn't remember me? But…why not?

Of course he doesn't remember _you!_ Said that logical part of her, making the girl shake her head as she started to until the second set of ropes. Why would he bother remembering some little country girl? Honestly now, Mouda, weren't you being a little bit stupid?

I know that! Her sensitive side hissed back weakly, and the blonde girl felt tears come to her eyes. I wasn't expecting him to remember me or anything! I didn't even want him to- I just wanted to tell him how I felt! Whether he liked me back or not wasn't important!

Then, scoffed her sensible side, why are you on the verge of crying? If you really didn't care, it wouldn't upset you so much. Why'd you have to go and do this, anyways, if you were only going to cry about it later? You've been doing nothing but crying, Mouda.

Her other half was silent.

"Hey, come on already!"

"H-huh?!" she jerked her head up, a few unnoticed tears dappling the planks at her knees.

Ace reached for her, looking impatient. "They boat's going to float away if you sit there forever. Hurry up and get on"

"…Okay…" almost hesitating to reach for him, Mouda took hold of the man's nostalgically warm hand and jumped. Ace pulled her to where he stood with one swift tug, balancing her with the other as she stumbled onto the boat. Ace's touch was warm and strong and very gentle, but it only made the tears in her eyes build faster.

* * *

Ooh. Garp always makes me laugh.

And so does Coby. That won't be the last we see of Coby, by the way! He's like…the rival, or something, so he must return. I'll be like Oda in chapter 432! Only…I won't…because even I can't make something THAT good.

But onto what really matters, poor Ace! So banged up! And poor MOUDA! Jeez, I'm kind of sadistic! I mean JEEZ. That's really all I have to say on the matter!

Anyways, look at how fast I updated! See? See how fast that was? That was fast. Don't ever expect these things from me. In fact, expect me to update like a SNAIL, because when I do you'll be expecting it and when I don't then you'll be pleasantly surprised.


	6. A Country Girl's Tears

A Country Girl's Tears

The blonde farmer tucked her skirt under herself while sitting down, happy to be out of the pants that felt so odd to wear. She had just finished changing into a spare set of clothes that were in her bag, this outfit being a brown sleeveless button-up shirt speckled with tiny pink fishes and a white skirt that fell to the knees.

Not a bad arrangement for just randomly throwing clothes into my bag, Mouda thought to herself pleasantly.

Then, while pursing her lips, the girl's eyes moved over to where Ace was.

The wind brushed against his hair, now washed and healthy looking in the breeze. He was sitting on the wooden planks of the cargo ship, cleaning the wounds on his front while changing the boat's direction every so often. Mouda was glad he knew how to sail- she was alright, but nothing suitable for traveling long distances. It was to be expected from a pirate, though.

The girl's blue eyes focused on the pirate in mind, his back clear for her to see. There were many scabbed stripes across the span of his back, no doubt caused by whippings. Underneath the wounds was a tattoo of some sort. She had seen it briefly three months ago, and now it was now rather unrecognizable.

She was pulled out of her revere when Ace suddenly turned his head to look at her sitting nearby, staring. He sought to make eye contact, but Mouda looked away first. Looking at him directly had become difficult in the last few hours. After all, to him, she was just a stranger.

"What?" he said while cocking a brow at her. So far, he seemed completely oblivious of her worries.

"U-um…" Mouda peeked at him for a second, recapturing the torn tattoo and marred skin in her eyes. A pang of sadness floated through her hollowly, and the blonde looked away again. "Y…your…back…" she started slowly, her tongue feeling heavy. "The wounds…on your back…c-can…" the girl swallowed a mouthful of nervousness. "Can I clean them for you?"

He stared at her for a very long time, and Mouda wondered if he thought she was being annoying. But then he pulled on a grin, and the girl sighed with relief.

"Sure" he agreed after a moment. "That'd be nice"

With unsteady feet Mouda carried herself over to where he sat, picking up a spare cloth and dipping it into the bucket of water near the man's feet, wringing the cloth tight. She knelt down behind him, taking a small breath of air before placing the wetted material against his bare skin.

"Um…Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"What's…um…" she gathered up she wanted to ask. "This tattoo is a pirate symbol, isn't it? Which crew is it for?"

Although he wasn't looking at her, Mouda could sense he was frowning. "You don't know?"

"Tahaha…" the farm hand let her laugh fade away. "I don't know much of anything, really…"

He shrugged at her comment. "It's the symbol for the Whitebeard pirates. I'm the commander of the second fleet"

She felt her mouth curve into a reluctant smile. "Ah…so…you're someone amazing, just like I'd thought…" the cloth in her hand grazed a wound.

The pirate flinched unexpectedly, making her pull away.

"Did that hurt?" she asked worriedly.

He laughed lightly, scratching the back of his hatless head.

"Not really"

The man said that, but flinched again as she ran the wet cloth across his shoulder blades, wiping away some of the grit stuck in the cuts there. Mouda bit her lip and made sure her actions were as tender as possible, ignoring any further movements Ace made.

"I'm sorry" she told him, feeling guilty behind her determination. "It stings, but it needs to be done"

"Yeah" he agreed, slouching forward some as the blond moved on to another set of cuts. "I know"

A small chuckle came from his mouth, Ace shaking his head a little as he laughed.

"What's funny?" the farm hand asked, if only to distract him as she rubbed away some grains of dirt that were reluctant on leaving the crevices of his injuries.

"Nothing" he said after his laughter had settled. "I wanted to tell you that you were acting really motherly, fixing me up like this. I just thought it sounded weird to say something like that, considering I don't know you"

"O…oh…" she didn't pause in her work, but Mouda's heart stopped for a moment as something invisible reached inside her and squeezed it. Licking her lips, she began washing his lower back, the damp cloth skimming the hem of his ragged shorts every now and again. "A-actually…."

"Hm?" he turned his head slightly to try and look at her, and the blonde girl felt herself shrink as she avoided his gaze.

"Actually…we…you and I have met before…I'm sure you don't remember. I live on a farm that sells milk- you stayed for the day after I pulled you out of a river…and delivered some things for me…" she trailed off weakly. "Nothing…special…"

Tears were building in her eyes again. Mouda thought her story was over, but her mouth kept moving, even as her vision became blurry.

"That was about three months ago…I….a few days ago I found out that you were going to be executed…it was strange news to me. Actually, I didn't even know you were a pirate or anything until I read about it, so I felt…a little overwhelmed…" she closed her blue eyes, salty tears falling from their lashes. "I didn't…think about…it…much…"

The cloth slipped from the girl's hands as her fingertips touched the back of the man's shoulders, and Ace remained perfectly still as Mouda pressed her forehead to the bare skin of his back

"I'm glad you're okay" was all she could say as her tears ran down the carved trails on his backside.

He was warm. He was so, so warm, and so were her cheeks, Mouda found, as well as her eyes and her heart. So warm that it was painful.

Abruptly Ace stood up, glancing at the log post as he had done several times since setting sail. He then pulled out a small piece of paper from his boot and looked at it intensely before nodding to himself. It wasn't the first time he had done this and the girl didn't know what it was for, but she knew they weren't headed towards San Faldo, and the paper had something to do with where they _were_ going.

While the man was distracted, Mouda grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled it up to her face, rubbing her eyes dry. Friction burned at her face now, and humiliation. That had been as good as a rejection, hadn't it?

"We're still on course, going pretty fast, too" he told her, a hint of discomfort in his voice. "I think we'll meet up soon"

Meet up with whom? Her inner voice asked, though her mouth was shut tightly. She had undoubtedly made things awkward- speaking more wouldn't do any good. Mouda lowered her head, reddened eyes staring at the water bucket in front of her with unnecessary concentration.

As she had wished, things became silent. Only the soft rushing of waves was heard, and the distant cries of seagulls. Perhaps she had simply forced everything pertaining to Ace from her ears, though, since she wasn't able to hear him walk up to her, and didn't notice him standing in the way of the bucket until a large, warm palm fell onto her head.

"I'm not going to get captured again" Mouda heard him say, his hand resting atop her head comfortingly. "So try to cheer up, okay? I don't worry about these things so you shouldn't either. A pirate who's afraid of getting caught isn't worth being called a pirate"

"Well I'm not a pirate" she found herself saying to him. "You can be as fearless as you like. I'll worry about it for you"

He laughed, patting her head a few times before removing his hand completely.

"You really _do_ act motherly!" he said through the laughter, and Mouda peeked up at him from under her bangs. He was grinning toothily, running a hand through his black hair as he looked at the log post on his wrist again.

She smiled despite herself.

* * *

Mouda was extremely confused when Ace started throwing paint all over the sails of the ship. For one, it had been very surprising that there was any paint at all on the boat, and two, the heavy liquid was making the sails nearly useless as it weighed them down and did little good catching wind. She trusted his judgment as a better sailor, but this was making it difficult.

"…What are you doing?"

"I can't go up to them in a ship with _marine symbols_ all over the sails!" he told her like it was obvious, pointing at a speck in the distance quickly before turning back to her. "Do you know how insulting- and _dangerous_- that would be?"

Apparently not, she answered soundlessly.

"Even with the wet paint slowing us down, we'll reach them soon enough, so listen! _Don't _speak to the captain unless he speaks to you, alright?" he put his hands on his hips.

"Um, I-"

"Bringing people who aren't crewmembers aboard isn't exactly _okay_ unless asked ahead of time, but I figure you saved me more then once so it should be overlooked" the man said with a hopeful tone.

"I don't really underst-"

"And if you're feeling weak for no apparent reason, let me know, alright?" he looked at her directly to get his point across. "None of those guys should be trying to intimidate you, and I'll see to it that they don't"

"Why would I feel-"

"It might be scary- no offence, but you look like you'd get scared easily. Don't worry though, the crew isn't known for hostility towards country girls, I promise" Ace told her while giving the girl a pat on the head as he had done earlier.

She sighed before nodding in compliance.

Mouda had heard of the Whitebeard crew. True, she didn't know what their pirate flag looked like until now and hadn't known Ace was such an important member, but she knew of the crew in general, and of their captain.

They were very famous in that comradely was very important to them. The captain, whose actual name she couldn't recall, was said to treat his crewmembers like sons- like he was their _father_…

Mouda frowned angrily, almost glaring at the pirate ship that had once been a tiny speck in the distance, and was now starting to swallow up the horizon.

* * *

Shortest. Chapter. Ever.

But as I said back in chapter three, or something like that, this is the only story I've written where I make the title before the chapter, and go by that. She'd done enough crying for the day, I figured. Besides, I can't show their meeting with Whitebeard this chapter, I need that scene for_ next _chapter! I couldn't make Mouda get all angry for no apparent reason and then keep writing! It'd be anti-climatic!

At least it didn't take me forever to update.

Mouda getting all close to Ace made me squeal a little inside. She was squealing too. I didn't write that in, but we all know she was.

By the way…I'm sure you all think things are looking pretty bleak for Mouda's love life, huh? Ace doesn't remember her! But if you were reading good and hard near the end of the chapter, then you'll notice I gave you a happy hint on Ace's memory! See if you can find it!


	7. A Country Girl's Feelings

A Country Girl's Feelings

Mouda had been on ships before- sailing ships, cargo ships, the ship her parents had worked on as caterers, and most recently a vice-admiral's battle ship. None of those could really compare to the grandness of the pirate ship she now stood on. It seemed to shift and swell in time with the ocean beneath it, giving the girl a feeling of unmovable strength. Yet wind whipped the blonde hair off her neck, so the ship was indeed moving. Several large flags billowed in the wind, bearing the same image as what the tattoo on Ace's back had once been.

The farm hand took in a breath of air, hovering away from Ace as he was greeted by his crewmates, which involved many cheers and hugs and a few punches. Something caught on fire for a moment, making her feel alarmed as she watched the happy crowd from a distance. The wooden planks under her boot covered feet crooned, catching her attention. Mouda stared at the floor for a long time, not knowing where else to look.

Someone grabbed her around the shoulders, shaking her lightly.

A man with a tattoo of a cross and a sideways crescent mark in the middle of his chest smiled down at her leisurely.

"We're in your dept, Mouda-chan" he told her.

The platinum blonde frowned at him faintly. No one had called her 'chan' in a long time. It felt like she had just lost a lot of height. Everyone here saw her as a child, didn't they?

"I did it for myself," she told him as maturely as possible. "So there isn't any dept"

"For yourself, huh?"

The pirate's eyes watched hers carefully and didn't look the least bit intimidating.

"Um," she stared weakly, her stomach twisting. "There…there's something I wanted to do"

"I'll hear you out" he said to the girl, looking as though he already knew what she was going to request.

Distantly, Mouda felt her hands curl into fists.

"I'd like to speak to your captain" she managed to say, a loss of confidence gripping at her throat. "Ace told me not to, and what I want to say isn't something he would be happy with. But…" the girl swallowed her doubts. "There are feelings inside of me I can't leave alone. The captain of this crew is the only one I want to direct them at"

"I see" the man nodded, leading her through the crowd. "Well, as long as talking is the only thing you're going to do, its fine. Say whatever you like. I'll make sure no one interrupts your chat"

With his hand on her back, the pirate shoved her passed the last few crewmembers in their way. Mouda stumbled forward, tripping up the steps at her front to fall onto an area of the boat that was occupied by only one person.

The captain of the whitebeard pirates was a huge man. He wasn't fat, not by any standards, but just all around _large_, from his solidly booted toes to his muscular, tube infested chest, up to the tips of the white mustache from which his crew was named.

The country girl doubted she was any bigger then his foot.

Her blue eyes, wide and bulbous, stared up at him in sheer awe at how his entire presence seemed to tower over her. In the back of her mind, she felt something shudder and want to faint.

"A clumsy one, aren't you?"

The girl was surprised. She had expected his voice to be as huge as he was, loud and thundering in her ears…but it wasn't. It was just a normal, elderly man's voice, if a bit stronger then others.

Then she heard what he had said, and immediately became embarrassed.

"W-well I- he pushed me, and I didn't see the s-steps, so I just fell right into them and couldn't really stop falling! Tahaha…ha…ah…" she stopped her nervous laughter when the captain's wrinkled, heavy gaze didn't leave her figure.

"So you got my second fleet's commander out of Impel Down? A twiggy little child. I suppose thanking you is in order?"

"N-no, sir" she stammered, pushing back the sting of his insult to let herself speak. "I didn't…do it for…I did it for my own benefit"

The towering man leaned forward, speculating her. "What sort of benefit? A tiny thing like you has no place in the affairs of pirates and marines"

Again, something inside her shook and trembled, and she felt her physical self tremble a little as well. Could she say it? The real reason? No, that was too personal, she-

"I have something important to tell Ace" she managed to say, her tongue feeling like lead.

"And what's that?"

Mouda opened her mouth for s split second before jamming it shut again. 'I love you'. She couldn't say something like that aloud, especially not to this person.

"That's…a bit too personal for me to say" she tried to explain, her ears burning, as well as something within her that was slowly turning to mush.

"It concerns one of my sons, so I have no choice but to hear it" the pirate captain told her, more then a hint of force in his voice. "Spit it out"

The old man's words struck inside her ears, and the platinum blond felt her hands form into fists once more.

"Your son…you say?" she breathed, trying to keep her voice steady as her knees shook for a reason she couldn't explain. "You think of everyone on this ship as your son, don't you captain Whitebeard?"

"That's right! They are all my sons- Ace included. Anything he hears, I should hear as well, don't you agree?"

Trembling, with sweat beading on her skin, Mouda shook her head. The girl's blue eyes barely fit into a glare. The captain leaned forward again- looming over her, his gaze pressing down on her already shaking figure.

"I'm grateful my son is alive and well" he said to her, a low grumble in his throat. "But that doesn't mean I'll tolerate a baby like you"

"I don't…think that it's right for you to say that!" the quivering blonde said through a breath of air. "To call Ace your son…I don't think its right!"

His eyes narrowed, making her vision become blurry.

"A father is supposed to help their children when their in need!" she told him, her voice wanting to go shrill. "W-why didn't you help Ace, when he was captured? Why didn't _you_ ensure he was alive and well?!" her legs shook uncontrollably as some invisible force tried to push her downwards. A sick sensation took hold of her stomach, and she wanted to throw up very badly. "When he was beaten and bloody and wrapped up in chains in that torture room, where were _you?!_ I-if a father abandons his son in such a way, _then_-" she chocked the weakness flooding her body.

Her footing loosened and the girl could feel the seconds ticking down until she lost whatever battle she was fighting. Mouda shut her watery eyes, mustering up a final drop of will-power to put her feelings into words. "_Then you'd be just about the worst father in the WORLD!_"

Her knees buckled, her eyes refused to open, and her nerves shut down as she began to fall.

Someone caught her before she hit the deck, hooking their arm under her stomach as she hung limply in their hold. They were hot against her clothes, and distantly she felt more sweat build on her skin.

"Give me another chance to get Teach!" said the one who had caught her- she found the voice was very similar to Ace's as her hearing went fuzzy. "I won't lose this time- I have twice as much pain to give back to him!"

The last thing Mouda felt was their arm tightening around her waist.

* * *

The cool sea breeze swept across her skin, the noise of thrashing water and licking flames in her ears. Confused by the bazaar combination, Mouda opened her eyes in a hurry, the world spinning. She shut them again, trying to regain a proper sense of her surroundings. Hadn't they just been on Whitebeard's ship? She had fainted, but now where was she? Where was Ace?

Mouda let out a pained whine as she struggled with her thoughts. Finally she tried opening her eyes again, looked to the side, and saw water rushing past.

The girl gripped whatever she was sitting on for dear life and snapped her head straight again. Her next sight was a _bit_ better, _maybe_, but only because the man she loved was in it.

Ace was in front of her as they rode on a boat not unlike the one she had seen him leave on some three months ago, one foot atop the nose of it with his arm gripping the small mast she rested against, his hand above her blonde head. The man's other foot was buried in a consistent flurry of flames which seemed to be powering the little watercraft like a motor. The bush of fire never left where his foot was planted, and did not travel further up his leg. Her blue eyes were wide and dilating at the heat waves fluttering over her vision, making it easier to think of what she was seeing as a hallucination.

"Ace?" she called out to him in a blissfully calm tone.

"Hm?" he looked back at her for a moment, his expression unreadable from where she sat. "Oh, sleeping beauty's awake now, huh? How are you fe-"

"Um, before that," she interrupted. "You're on fire"

He looked at her more directly now, confusion scribbling over his face. "Uh…thanks? Listen, Mouda, can we talk about how you feel about me later? I need to keep on course"

"No, I think it's important" she denied him his request, pointing down at the flames with a simple frown on her face. "You're on fire, you see"

The pirate stared down to where she was pointing, looked even more confused, before he started laughing loudly. The boat slowed to a halt, the flames dying.

"I don't think it's something to _laugh_ over!" the girl shouted at him. She was quieted when Ace turned to face her, lifting up the foot that should have been completely charred and setting it between her bare knees. "Ah…?"

"No burn marks, right?" he told her, a few chuckles still in his throat. "I didn't think you wouldn't know about my Devil Fruit ability!"

"Devil Fruit?" she repeated, touching the boot at her knees with caution. "It's not hot!" she exclaimed with shock and awe.

"Of course not- I don't want to burn you. You don't know about Devil Fruits?" the black haired man asked, before reading whatever expression the blonde had on and shaking his head. "Let's see, how can I make this a simple explanation? Their nearly unattainable fruits that give whoever eats one special powers. I ate the Mera Mera Fruit, so I have pyrokinetic abilities"

"Pyrokinetic?" she repeated, head tilting.

"It means I can control fire. I can make it, use it, and have it disappear on a whim"

"I see" Mouda nodded, still looking a little dumbstruck.

"Now, any more questions, or can we get going again?"

"No" she mumbled, shifting her white skirt as he set his foot back down. "No questions"

Wordlessly, flames burst to life again and the boat was speeding along in a matter of seconds. The platinum blond still felt disturbed when looking downwards, but did her best to ignore the irregular heat near her shins. They were in silence for some time, and the country girl ran through a few thoughts in her head about the things that had happened in the past few days.

"Ace?" the girl said in a similar tone to the one she had used when first waking. "I…"

"What's up? Still feeling sick? It'll wear off soon"

Mouda closed her mouth, tired of tasting the salty air after struggling to speak. She did feel a bit sick, now that she thought about how the rest of her body felt opposed to her heart. Her heart felt sick too, though, so it didn't make much of a difference.

"You were the one who caught me after my legs gave out on the ship, weren't you?" her voice was caught in the wind, so she wasn't sure if she'd even spoken.

"…I thought you said you didn't have any more questions" he pointed out with something similar to a sigh in his words.

"You were, weren't you?" she persisted. She ducked her head, not wanting to look at his cut up back any longer. "Were you mad about what I said?"

"…Yeah"

Her heart throbbed at his answer, and Mouda bit her lip, wetting it inside her mouth. It didn't matter. She wasn't going to take back what she said.

I'm entitled to my feelings, she told herself weakly.

"But a part of me was a bit mad at him too" the pirate continued, scratching at his head with a free hand. "So, thanks for speaking for me"

Mouda managed to peek upwards, catching his expression as his looked forward again. The girl sucked in a breath of salty air, gaining enough courage to lift a hand up off the boat and run it through her platinum tresses.

The other hand nudged a leather bag, which was securely attached to the watercraft by a small series of ropes. Ace must have tied it on for her while she was unconscious. Inside it was money, a few supplies, her precious stationary kit, and a very important letter that had yet to be delivered.

* * *

Here's chapter seven, given to you all by me!

The popularity of this story seems to be rising, and people like my take on Mouda quite a bit. Some think she's an OC and others recognize her from the manga. A few of ACGP's readers have found their way over to it's companion story, 'From a Pirate's Viewpoint' which takes us through key events in this story, but from Ace's point of view.

I showed some of Mouda's guts today as she stands up to one of the fiercest pirates on the grand line and stays standing just long enough to say how she felt before collapsing. Mouda strikes me as a girl who would find family to be a very important thing. In it there is a form of love, something that she feels is very important and dear in life. My Mouda does, anyways.

Then at the end of the chapter I have a bit of humor- "you're on fire"- and then end things with reminding everyone that Mouda still has something important to say, even if Ace might have wordlessly rejected her already.


	8. A Country Girl’s Delivery

A Country Girl's Delivery

There was a cool breeze sweeping through the window that captured a few strands of the girl's hair, making the platinum blonde open her eyes. Sleep hadn't fallen upon her yet, for even though her body was tired, the girl's mind was restless.

What time was it?

Mouda rolled over on the bed to look at the nearby clock, which read nine-thirty.

It had been several hours earlier that she and Ace had reached the island- Eyskel Island, as far as her memory knew. Not too long afterwards the pirate had dropped her in a hotel room, saying something about looking for leads and for her to stay where she was and be good. He was very quick about it, so Mouda didn't feel she had been given enough time to register all of what she was told, to be fair.

The blonde sighed faintly, allowing her head to fall back against the pillow.

How much longer is he going to be out for? She wondered as impatience started to swell inside of her chest. Her ocean blue eyes looked towards the nightstand again, peeking past the clock to eye up her sturdy leather bag.

Giving herself another sigh, Mouda rolled off the bed and let her feet touch the floor, standing up in the midst of a small rush of blood to her head. Pausing to let the dizziness fade, the farmer took a few tiny steps forward, her bare feet feeling cold against the floorboards. Her hands took hold of her bag, lifting it off the nightstand and holding it to her chest protectively. The crinkling noise of paper could be heard within the leather, and Mouda bit her lip nervously.

"…These intimate sorts of things…" she murmured to herself as she opened the bag and reached inside. "…Should be done in person, I guess…" her hand withdrew a red stained envelope, the message stamped into it bothering the girl.

A sudden creaking noise entered the room and Mouda dropped her bag in fright before spinning on her bare heel, making the skin burn with friction. Clutching her undelivered letter to her chest for support, the girl's eyes darted to the room's entrance.

Ace froze from where he was opening the door, looking at Mouda as though he had just been caught in the act of breaking and entering. There was a key in his hand and he had gotten the room for them, though, so this clearly wasn't the case. After a few uncomfortable seconds the pirate closed the door behind himself and Mouda moved to scoop up her abandoned bag.

"You startled me!" the girl told him while placing her bag back on the nightstand, her other hand holding the letter with weak fingers. Being the first to speak somehow felt very unpleasant. "How…how did your search go?" she licked the roof of her mouth, grimacing at the unsavory taste. When did she last brush her teeth?

"No luck" he told her while sitting on the chair at other side of the room. The man put a hand to his face, sighing. "How long will finding him take me this time…?"

Mouda sat down on the bed, letting the envelope in her grasp settle on the sheets. "Um…can I ask? Who it is you're looking for…"

"You wouldn't know him"

Of course I wouldn't, she thought with a frown. Silly me…!

Silence ensued, and the girl let herself fall back onto the mattress. Her knuckles brushed paper and she jolted upright, startling the black haired pirate. The blonde felt her heart begin to hammer.

Even if he doesn't like me, the girl thought fiercely, I have to at least tell him_ properly!_

Taking the envelope into her hands, Mouda held it up for the pirate to see.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked the man after taking a silent breath of air, her insides shivering.

Ace squinted at the letter curiously. "What is it?"

Mouda opened her mouth, only to find that no noise would come out. Swallowing air, she tried again.

"It's a love letter"

The man raised a brow. "What, someone gave it to you?"

Shaking her head doggishly, the blonde got to her feet, legs wanting to shake. Taking several steps forward, she made sure it was clear for him to see. Before he could read the writing properly, though, the girl found herself snatching it away from him, fear thudding in her ears.

"Hey!" he reached for it, curiosity now taking hold of him. "At least let me see it!"

As though it were a reflex, Mouda tore the paper in her hands apart, shredding it into smaller and smaller pieces that fluttered to the ground. Finally, the last morsel of paper touched the floor. The pair stared down at the remains quietly, both frozen in place while looking at the mix of white and red and unreadable words.

Mouda blinked herself out of the daze, taking Ace's outstretched hand with her two smaller ones. He made a motion as if to pull away, but relaxed as she tightened her hold a little, wanting to make it clear she didn't plan to let go.

The blanket of silence that had settled on her was heavy, and she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to pull it away. His hand was very worm and oddly comforting to her as Mouda struggled with the unseen weight pressing down on her. She felt the blanket lift a little as Ace twitched his fingers, squeezing a few of her fingertips in his palm.

A returned gesture?

"I'm not even allowed to read it?" the man asked, sounding carefree but serious at the same time. "What's up with that?"

"I would have let you read it," Mouda replied like a second nature. "But it couldn't be delivered"

"But it was right there before you tore it up"

"Yes, but…" she bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes for a reason the girl couldn't explain. "The things written in the letter…should really be said in person. So…rather then 'it couldn't be delivered'…'it shouldn't be delivered' is a better way to put it…I think..." teeth continued to dig into her lower lip, making it feel tender.

"…I see"

Ace didn't have to look up very far to meet her eyes. Even while standing, Mouda was still very small and he was level with her collarbone. Suddenly the thought of him looking at her so directly seemed terrifying, because what if he did see? What if he could see everything? All of her thoughts and feelings that she wanted to tell him herself? The idea spoiled any happiness she could have strained from his words and made her feel sick.

Things all seemed so eager to fall away from her just then. The tears in her eyes, the blood from where her teeth had bitten too hard, and her courage. Pulling her hands away from his and her fingertips out of his grasp, Mouda rubbed at her face, wiping away the tears and smudging the blood on her lip, desperately trying to get rid of whatever expression that was on her face.

"I love you"

Mouda didn't hear how she sounded while speaking. A choke, a sob, a whisper. She had said it, though. Those three words. She slowly lowered her hands, eyes shielded by her bangs.

I told myself it didn't matter what he felt, she thought in distress. Why am I so sacred to look at him now?

There was a light creaking beyond the blood in her ears, making the blonde back away. She had meant to take only one or two steps backwards, but instead it was three or five, the back of her legs hitting the bed. Her body started to fall backwards.

Two strong hands grasped her shoulders as the man straightened her, holding the girl in place, not letting her move even after her bare feet had steadied themselves. Mouda enjoyed the sensation of him holding her so tightly and hated it for keeping her still.

"Mouda," Ace said to her, sounding distant as he spoke. "I don't think you love me"

…What?

What did he say?

The blonde blinked rapidly, clearing her eyes in hopes of it clearing her head.

"There are lots of moments," the pirate continued, still refusing to release the girl. "When a girl like yourself, young and inexperienced with the world, will see a good looking guy and assume its love their feeling. That isn't what this is"

What? He mind repeated once more, beginning to understand his words and disliking their meaning.

"So you mean to say that I'm just lusting over you"

His grip loosened at her words, but didn't disperse entirely.

"…Yeah"

Oh, Mouda thought as a bizarre form relief filled her. He doesn't see, after all.

The blonde turned her head upwards, blue eyes meeting black ones, holding them with steadiness that was once lost. She caught something in his gaze, a flicker of discomfort, or maybe fear, or-

Restraint.

He's restraining himself, she realized, the knowledge lighting up her body as though it were kindle in a fire. He's lying to me!

She suddenly felt like hitting him for being so untruthful. He was close enough, surely, less then a foot apart.

So she did.

The pirate stumbled backwards, holding a hand over his mouth after receiving an unexpected blow to the jaw. An upper-cut was the only form of punch she could deliver. He was almost twice her height; even if a jump was involved she wouldn't have been able to get a decent hit any other way.

A pained groan came from behind his hand, the man looking at her with a confused half-glare that said he wanted to know what he was being punished for.

In a whirl of pale gold Mouda whipped around and walked calmly towards the bathroom door.

"I'm going to have a bath!" she hummed, looking back at him with a cheerful smile. "Don't peek!"

After she had finished with her bath and her teeth had been cleaned, Mouda exited the bathroom with her clothes from that day on, combing her fingers through her long wet locks. She hadn't thought to bring any nightgowns, but it didn't really matter, she supposed.

Her ocean blue eyes wandered over to where Ace was sitting on the hotel chair, eating. Her stomach twisted and she looked at the sandwich he was holding hungrily. As if reading her thoughts, the man looked up at the blonde before holding the other half of the sandwich out to her.

What's this? The country girl demanded of him silently. A peace offering?

She accepted the food while feeling greedy, which then lead to feeling guilty. Ace needed his strength, she really shouldn't have been taking his food, peace offering or otherwise.

To distract herself she looked to the clock on the nightstand.

"Wow," she mused. "Eleven already? There haven't been many times I've stayed up so late! I'm going to go to sleep!"

"Good idea" the pirate agreed, the right side of his face looking sore and all of him looking uncomfortable as he sunk into the chair.

The platinum blonde couldn't stop herself from feeling curious about the man's actions. "What are you doing?"

Ace looked at her wearily. "Getting comfortable?"

"…You're not going to sleep in that chair, are you?" she wanted to know, concern once again outweighing her angry feelings. "Because that's not good for you!"

He cocked a brow at her. "I've slept in worse places, believe me"

"But shouldn't you sleep in comfy places when you have the chance?" Mouda asked, her worry taking complete control of her words. "Sleep on the bed!"

"Oh, no, that's fine" he made a light waving motion with his hand. "I'll stay here"

"Ace, please sleep on the bed!" she urged.

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because _you're _sleeping on the bed" he sighed.

Mouda stared at the chair Ace occupied, and then Ace himself before mentally snapping her fingers.

"I won't touch you…" the girl felt perturbed when the pirate suddenly slapped a hand over his face. "What's that reaction for?"

Ace rubbed at his eyes. "Uh…it's just…usually the _guy_ says that, you know…?"

"What does that matter?"

"Well…" he looked at her through his fingers before shaking his head a little. "…Never mind"

With a little more prodding she had convinced him to share the bed with her. It wasn't as though the bed was very small. _She_ was very small, and that made plenty of room for both of them.

Mouda gave one tiny yawn before curling in the sheets, enjoying the extra warmth while starting to drift asleep.

As a fleeting thought, the girl recalled the bits of paper lying on the hotel floor and reminded herself that she'd need to clean them up before they left.

* * *

In the morning, the chirping birds awoke her, and only at the loudness of the birdsongs did the girl remember that she had left the window open all night. Drowsily she moved to get out of bed, the space Ace had occupied that night being empty.

Did he leave so early in the morning? Mouda wondered to herself, the clock on the nightstand telling her it wasn't even seven yet.

She stopped her ponderings when her foot touched something warm and slightly soft instead of the cold, hard floorboards. Pulling her toes up, the blonde peeked over the edge of the bed curiously.

Ace was sprawled out on the floor, snoring quietly with his brows knitted, making him look stressed.

No wonder, Mouda thought unhappily. The floor can't be comfy…!

With a brief smile she scooped up the still-warm blanket and lowered it to the floor, letting it settle onto the sleeping man before she crawled to the foot of the bed and hopped off, standing still for a minute while thinking about what she had gotten up to do. Nodding to herself she went to shut the window.

A faint whisper of noise caught her attention, the girl looking to the other side of the room where the remains of her letter were nestled.

That's right, she told herself, walking towards the shreds of paper and gathering them up in her hands. I need to get rid of this. Her feet led her to the window pane.

After all, I don't really need it any more.

Mouda smiled trustingly as she released the fragments of her written words, watching them flutter into the breeze before pulling her hands back inside and closing the window as she had meant to.

* * *

Yeah Mouda. Sock it to him.

Anyways. Look! I finally updated! Aren't you proud of me?! I'm proud of me. It was a difficult chapter to weave through. I knew all of what I wanted to happen, but I could only _see_ it, and couldn't _hear_ it. Not that me saying that makes things any better for you all. Sorry about that.

I love writing angry Mouda. No idea why. Just…_BAM_. That's how I feel when I write angry Mouda. Cheerful Mouda is almost as fun, just because when she's cheerful, I'm cheerful. But nope! Angry Mouda really takes the cake. And then gives it to me. Angrily.

Look forward to FAPV! Bet you can't guess what scene I'm focusing on this time!!


	9. A Country Girl's Touch

A Country Girl's Touch

Grabbing a section of hair, she crossed it over and in between two separate lengths, switching her hold to one of the other pieces and repeating the process in a similar fashion, continuing like this until she'd nearly reached the end of her braid. With one hand holding her braided hair in place, the girl searched the bathroom's countertop for a hair tie. None were to be found and she sighed a little, figuring they must have been forgotten in her bag.

Mouda exited the bathroom with half of her hair loose and falling about her face, the blonde's weaved tresses kept in place with her fingers.

Ace was sitting at the nightstand, using it as a make-shift table while he scribbled things on a piece of paper. Hovering behind him, the girl shifted from foot to foot while eyeing the leather bag at the back of the mini table. She suddenly felt very intrusive, not wanting to interrupt him but not wanting to reach over his back and grab her bag without warning.

For several seconds she remained where she was, looking at the back of her love interest. The wounds he had received while in Impel Down were healing nicely, but they would no doubt leave scars, and the image on his backside would never fix itself. The marines who had been handling the whips made sure of that. Running her eyes along the marred skin until she found herself staring at the nape of his neck, Mouda wondered how much pain he felt from the cuts right now.

Her hair crinkled between her fingers as she rubbed them together. What would Ace's feel like? Forgetting herself for a moment, Mouda reached out with a free hand and grazed the tips of his hair. Ace looked over his shoulder in response to the touch of her fingers. She stared back at him, and the man cocked a brow at her silence.

"What?"

Mouda snapped back to reality. "Huh? O-oh, um…I just wanted my bag…" she twisted her braided hair around a little in embarrassment while her curiosity grew stronger. "For…hair ties…" the blonde continued aimlessly.

Ace turned back around and grabbed her bag, handing it to the girl effortlessly. "Here you go"

Staring at the object in her arms silently for a few seconds, Mouda ran a thumb over her platinum tresses again before setting the leather bag down on the bed. "Um…Ace? I was wondering if I could do something"

"What is it?"

Now she felt more intrusive then ever, and yet so tempted. "That's…you might get mad about it…"

The black haired pirate looked back at her again, an amused expression on his face. "Did you want a hug or something?"

Seeing him grin made Mouda feel very warm and bubbly inside, but she quickly shook her head at the guess- she didn't want to hug him if he didn't want to hug her back. "N-no…well, it's about the same level as a hug…I think…?"

He looked a bit puzzled at the answer. "Well, whatever it is, I won't get mad. I'm going to go back to this stuff though, alright?" the logia's attention returned to the papers on the nightstand.

Biting the lip which was still sore from the previous day, the country girl shuffled her feet together uncertainly. "…Okay..." whether the agreement was directed towards Ace's words or what she was about to do, Mouda wasn't sure, but it probably didn't matter.

Lifting her hands from her sides, the girl's fur trimmed boots tapped softly on the floor as she stepped forward and weaved her fingers into the man's charcoal hair. Mouda felt a blush cover her cheeks as she combed through shaggy black tresses, delighted at how even the tiniest bit of him was warm against her skin. The blonde closed her eyes to the meager bit of closeness she was experiencing, letting her mind be captured by the moment.

Then he suddenly stood up, the chair scraping against the floorboards. Her hands slid from his hair and the warmth was gone, the tips of her fingers whitening from the sudden chill. Ace stood where he was, looking ridged and unapproachable to the country girl behind him. She took a step backwards, thinking that her actions had upset him.

"Y-you said you wouldn't get mad…!" Mouda managed to say, but then cringed at how childish the defense sounded.

"…I'm not mad"

And he didn't _sound_ mad, either, which threw the girl into confusion as he turned to face her. Mouda's breath hitched as they met eyes, ocean blue reflecting iron black. The man's expression was unreadable for once, which felt unbearably odd. He wasn't hiding anything from her, but rather, she just didn't understand what he was thinking this time- as though whatever was going through Ace's head was just beyond her grasp.

Stunned and lost in front of him, the country girl rocked back onto her heels in surprise as the pirate lifted his hands unexpectedly and slipped them into her hair. Opening her mouth to say something, no words came out as the girl realized she had nothing to say. Mouda stood in complete silence as the man mimicked her actions from before, her braid unraveling and falling in front of her face, only to be pushed back behind her ear by achingly warm fingertips.

Matching his gaze became too much and Mouda shut her eyes, taking in a deep breath of air after realizing she was suffocating herself. The soft blush she had been wearing earlier flowed over her entire body, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. Prying open her blue eyes, the girl was surprised to find that things were clear again. Ace dropped his hands to his sides as though he had done nothing at all and Mouda closed her mouth, her head empty and hair a mess.

"It isn't the same as a hug, is it?" Ace asked suddenly.

Again she opened her mouth, sucking in a bit of air before pursing her lips, the girl's head wagging back and forth. "You messed up my hair" she spouted thoughtlessly.

"You messed up my hair first" he snorted, patting down the wayward bits on his head.

"W…well, I'm going to go fix mine, then" Mouda told him, the heat starting to fade as she reached for her bag.

"Alright" the pirate agreed, taking a seat at the nightstand again. "We're going to leave once you're done. I've sorted out a good path to where Blackbeard might be"

"Blackbeard?" the blonde echoed curiously, pausing in her steps towards the bathroom. "Hey, you know, there's a doctor Blackbeard back on my island!" she chirped.

"Yeah, I know" Ace muttered darkly. "Nearly got me killed after I kicked him in the face"

"Why did you do that?" Mouda demanded. "He's a very nice man!"

"…Go fix your hair, Mouda"

She did as she was told, carefully braiding both sides of her hair and looping the hair ties around the ends before examining herself in the mirror. Pretty, the girl hoped, shuffling through the room to meet Ace outside.

* * *

"There you are!" shouted a man wearing a dusty chief's hat.

Mouda stared at him in puzzlement as he pointed a finger in her direction- or more specifically, at the pirate behind her. Ace started to step away, tugging her along by one of her braids.

"Hey, don't do that!" the blonde complained, walking faster to make him stop pulling. "What's going on?"

"Nothing too important" the man assured her, letting go of Mouda's hair to grab hold of her wrist. "Come on, start running"

"Running? Why, what did you-"

"Stop!" hollered the chief, charging after them through the crowd. "Anyone who eats at my restaurant _pays_ for their food, you hear?!"

Mouda suddenly felt her arm snap straight as Ace broke into a dash, her little feet skidding on the ground when they rounded a corner, their paces unmatched.

"Can't you run any faster?" Ace wanted to know as he dragged her towards the harbor.

Mouda hiked up her frilled red skirt, her knees tempted to get caught in the bright material. "Can't you just pay that man what you own him?!" she shot back.

He looked back at her disbelievingly. "No way!"

The girl shrieked as she was suddenly thrown off her feet. She landed painfully on the pirate's shoulder, leaving her breathless and stupefied while he continued to run. As she clung to the back of his shorts, Mouda regained awareness of the things around her and her hands flew to her rear, Ace holding her steady with one arm.

"_Ace!_" the blonde screamed as clearly as possible. "_I'm wearing a SKIRT!_"

"I don't _care!_"

Mouda huffed loudly, her face as red as a tomato.

She glared at the upside-down view of his back until they managed to loose the man chasing them, hopping onto Ace's boat and speeding away into the open waters of the grand line. Then she glared at the right-side-up view of his back, the salty breeze making her blink continuously. Twisting the straps of her bag in one hand, the blonde finally looked elsewhere, biting her lip as she stared down at the quickly passing waves.

"Hey," Mouda wondered aloud after growing weary of being mad. "Isn't it scary to move so fast through the ocean on such a little boat?"

"Not really" Ace admitted, shrugging as he looked over his shoulder at her. "Why, are you scared?"

"N-no!" she stammered, pulling her eyes away from the rushing water. "Just a little nervous. I mean, I could fall right off! Nothing to really stop me, you know? Taha!"

You're rambling, she told herself. The girl lifted a hand to her face in embarrassment. Stupid.

"Don't worry," he laughed. "I wouldn't let you fall"

Peeking through her fingers at him, Mouda gave a hesitant smile that grew larger as Ace smiled back. Her cheeks became pleasantly hot, as though it were his hand touching the girl's face instead of her own.

"You'd catch me?" she murmured venturously.

"Even if I had to throw myself in with you"

The answer came quickly, and for a moment Mouda was sure it had been her imagination.

* * *

Its here, true believers! The long-awaited _new chapter of ACGP!!_ I hope you weren't waiting on the edge of your seats TOO long, because the amount of time it took me to update is an unhealthy number of months to sit like that. Seriously.

Sadly it wasn't even a very long chapter. It wouldn't be the first time I've given you all a shorter chapter, though. Next time should be longer. I did have an additional scene I wanted to have in this chapter, but I liked what I had written and didn't know how I was going to fit it in. Besides, with any more the chapter wouldn't be following the title anymore, and I _can't_ have that. Next time. I'll do that scene next time.

At any rate, this story has pretty much become AU from the canon storyline. Oh well. I'll just have to ignore it, as much as it bothers me. I hope no one is bothered by it like I am. I'm just a perfectionist like that, I guess. I don't like messing up storylines. Especially manga ones. Their like the canon of the canon. Does anyone else have those sorts of problems?

Anyways, things will be more action-y and exciting next chapter, I promise.

See you all in FAPV!


	10. A Country Girl's Fall

A Country Girl's Fall

She was very sore and tired, yet Mouda felt cheerful following Ace through the small port town they'd stopped at. The two of them had gone to sleep on Ace's boat that night, the rocking waves and consistent fear of falling off the side keeping the blonde from ever drifting off completely. She had huddled herself up in the deepest area of the watercraft for comfort as the pirate slept impossibly well.

Now it was morning, the warmth of the sun and the feeling of solid ground beneath her feet putting the girl in a very good mood. The market was lively, full of people and their wares. Ace said he planned on getting supplies here. What sort of supplies did he need? It was a mystery to her.

Supplies? The girl thought to herself, glancing at the red skirt and white top she had on, which were both a bit dirty. Underneath that…

Blushing, Mouda decided that maybe she needed some supplies too.

"Hey, would it be okay if I got something while we're here?" she blurted, hoping the man could head her over the many other voices in the crowd.

The farmer opened her mouth to try again before Ace mumbled uncertainly. "Uh…sure…?"

She decided his answer was more positive then negative and dashed off towards the section of the market that sold clothing, forgetting to ask him where he could be found once she was finished shopping. The girl's wallet jingled from within her leather bag and she smiled happily. With so much money, she could buy quite a few pairs and still have lots left over for other things…

Slowing her pace, the blonde glanced at the various styles of clothing admiringly, walking through the stands in leisurely content. Never had she seen such a wide range of choices. Ace called this a small town, but it was larger then hers by far. So much to choose from!

Pastel, white, patterned…daringly she picked out a black pair, too.

As the shopkeeper folded up the bag with her undergarments in them and accepted her money, Mouda couldn't help but think that his smile was a little unprofessional. "I'm sure they'll look cute on you"

The girl thanked him awkwardly while accepting her change and quickly went to go look at another stand. Skirts, dresses, blouses…

A rather pretty garment caught her eye, reflecting in the girl's eyes to make the ocean blue look sea green.

"Oh…" Mouda felt herself drawn to the fabric, which rippled in the breeze. Reaching out to touch it, her fingers curled around the yellow cloth gently. It was soft, but not the sort of thing that would become static-y, something she disliked on hot days when her clothes stuck to her as much as they could. "How nice…"

She needed more clothes, didn't she? After leaving her favorite dress back at Enies Lobby, she'd been left with only two outfits. This could be its replacement. There were no designs, certainly not fish, but the dress's solid brightness seemed perfect as it was. Peeking at the price tag, the country girl admitted it was a bit expensive, but there was still plenty of money to spare. Calling out to the shop owner, she paid and accepted the neatly folded garment.

Slipping it carefully into her leather bag, Mouda smiled to herself while pulling the bag's strap onto her shoulder.

Nothing could have prepared her for it when an arm curled around her frame and lifted her into the air, her unexpected captor squeezing her back against them so tightly she almost couldn't breathe. The girl's bag slid from her shoulder and she managed to hook her fingers into it before it fell completely.

A hand was lifted to her face, uncurling quickly as a fireball shaped from it, hovering dangerously close to her nose. Wow, there was a ball of fire millimeters away from her. For a second she couldn't think straight. Captor? The blonde tried to make sense of the hazardous situation. Fire?

"Stay where you are, _captain_," said the voice of Ace, sounding a bit gruffer then normal. "Or else this little lady will become a pile of bones and ashes"

"Although I hate all pirates and don't trust a single one of them, I've always had the idea that certain ones had a degree of honor to them… but I was wrong about you, Fire Fist…! There's nothing more disgraceful then taking an innocent bystander hostage"

As she let relief fill her in knowing who it was that had grabbed her, Mouda took notice of the white clad person Ace seemed to be talking to. His clothing was badly burned, but even so, the girl could make out the faint symbols marking him as a marine.

What's going on, Ace? She questioned wordlessly, her lungs still feeling strained under the man's arm. This person is a marine captain, isn't he? Is he after you?

The man laughed quietly at the marine's words, sending little vibrations through Mouda's body. "Well, we're honorable when it fits our needs. If not then we like ignore stuff like that…"

She tried to breathe, the taste of smoke in the air and unbearable heat at her lips making her throat squeeze tight. The fireball Ace had created was bright and hot, boring white holes in her vision. Her eyes watered responsively, tears slipping down her face as she tried to bear with it.

The painful grip he'd had on her suddenly loosened, still keeping her off her feet, but it was now much easier to breathe. The rippling heat remained, and she wondered how long she was going to have to be concerned for her eyelashes.

"So…" the white haired man before her let out a puff of smoke from his two cigars- something that must have been terrible for his health. "What do you plan to do now? Burn the girl to a crisp and throw _her_ at me?"

Throw my burnt corpse at you? Mouda didn't know whether to laugh or cry in frustration. _What_ was going on here?

There seemed to be a small wave of tension flowing over them, but the instant Ace threw the ball of fire at the smoking figure, it boiled down to heart-thumping confusion once more for the girl. Ace released his hold before pushing her away, more flames lashing out at the marine.

"Run!"

Biting her lip at the order he'd given without even looking at her, Mouda whirled towards the harbor and ran as fast as she could, more tears coming to her eyes. Her bag jostled around, hitting her side several times as she stumbled through the streets.

Soon her new dress would be wrinkled and ugly.

Her feet tapped noisily against the wooden docks as she kept running. Moving past the unfamiliar boats unsteadily, she almost fell into the water as her toe hit a loose board. Shaking her head to clear away the dizziness, the farmer trickled to a stop in front of the small watercraft she had slept in so terribly the night before.

Dropping the leather bag to the planks, the girl let herself sink down beside it. Her legs hurt so much, and so did her face. Did he have any idea what it felt like to have a searing hot ball of fire held up to your face like that?

Did he have any idea how hurtful it was to be told to just leave like that?

Letting out a whine, Mouda urged herself to believe she was only upset because she didn't know what was going on. That happened a lot. This was confusing and frustrating. She'd forget about it soon enough, when Ace explained things to her.

'You would have just been a nuisance'- what if he said something like that? It was _true_ but…

The heavy footfalls on wood made Mouda lift her head. Ace stared down at her, breathing a bit heavily with an expression his face she could only call relief.

"Ace?" she voiced, wondering what the worry was for.

"You…came here after all…?" he breathed, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Of course…" Mouda felt her insides twist at the sudden thought that he'd wanted her to actually _leave_.

"_Fire Fist!_" raged the man from before, bursting into sigh as a cloud of smoke and singed marine attire.

Ace wasted no time in grabbing Mouda and her bag, dropping them into his boat before jumping in himself. Fire burned away the rope ties, diving into the motor and pushing them away from the dock. Joints singing from the impact, Mouda wobbled to her knees as the marine shouted something inaudible to her ears.

Tendrils of smoke coiled around her frame, trying to do the same to Ace before being chased away by licks of fire. Mouda felt her exhaustion lift from her momentarily as she herself was lifted, the dark grey vines seeming to have a nearly solid form, pulling the girl to her feet and then off the boat.

Mouda reached out blindly, her fingers skimming through warm air.

"_You'd catch me?"_

Then and there she made a very clear conclusion that she wasn't going to stop falling. The girl's helpless shriek filled her ears as she squeezed her blue eyes shut. Her body became surrounded by warmth, and it wasn't until they plunged into the icy water that Mouda realized Ace had caught her.

"_Even if I had to throw myself in with you"_

He'd done just as he'd said he would.

The pirate's arms started to loosen around her, all his warmth lost and her body becoming even colder as the pair continued to sink. Weariness pulled on her hard, and Mouda mustered all her will to fight against the ache of her muscles and the pressure of the water in an attempt to reach the surface.

Move, Ace! She pleaded in silence, pushing him upwards inch by inch. Swim!

But Ace wasn't swimming. He wasn't even moving, and now _she_ felt like the one who was on fire, lungs burning along with the rest of her. Air. She needed air. So did Ace.

The struggling blonde felt her fingers reach the surface as she pushed the limp man, desperate to let him breath. Kicking her legs hard, she focused on keeping his head above water. She wasn't strong enough to hold him up side by side, but underneath him, there was a tiny amount of weightlessness that made it possible. As long as she felt the air licking at her fingertips, then she knew he wouldn't die.

She couldn't say the same for herself, though. The hammering of her heart let her ignore the thought.

Dark. It was always dark underwater. It scared her. When she was eight, some older kids had bullied her, forcing her head underwater to see how long she could take it before passing out. That had been scary, just like now, and the water beyond her eyelids was looking especially dark.

Before she could realize it her fingers were in the water, the girl's legs kicking weakly in response to the terror that shot through her numbing body. No! She begged, unable to voice her panic and unable to stop it from growing as her strength left her. _Ace!_ _ACE!_

Bubbles surged through Mouda's teeth as she tried to scream, saltiness forcing its way down her throat. No air, no strength. There was nothing left- just water. Blackness swallowed her up and in her drowning heart she was sure she'd never escape.

_He caught me like he said he would, but I can't even do this… _

The girl was unable to feet the weight being taken from her as Ace was pulled from the ocean, shortly before a hand closed around her wrist.

* * *

Tada! Look, that didn't take so long, right? I think I did it in pretty good time. It took me a while to notice, but this is all one scene! Funny, huh?

So, ladies and gentlemen, this is one of those chapters that may be confusing unless you read the corresponding From A Pirate's Viewpoint chapter. It much better explains what happened while Mouda was shopping. But I suppose you could survive without knowing.

I'd been waiting to write this chapter for so long, because the chapter after this brings us into the arc I've been looking forward to! I can't tell you anything but…the people who saved Ace and Mouda are very famous! Very well-known and much loved (accept by marines and Whitebeard. And Buggy). Please look forward to it.

By the way, I made a poll on my profile page for all of you fans! I have a few OP stories I'd like to do once ACGP is finished, and I'm curious to know which one you would like to see the most!

If it interests you, then please take a moment to visit my profile and take your pick!


	11. A Country Girl's Apology

A Country Girl's Apology

Within the endless darkness, Mouda could feel herself breathing. She wasn't sure when it had started- perhaps quite some time ago, or maybe just a moment before she took notice of it. Regardless, there was a steady rise and fall beneath her chest, along with a dream-like pulsing that made her feel safe. A heartbeat. The girl began to feel other things, too. Air against her skin. Dryness. Warmth. There was a weight on her form, not confining, but comforting. Again she was unsure of when these things had appeared; only that they were there, and she was somewhere.

Slowly, Mouda opened her eyes.

There was a wall in front of her. No, wait- it was a ceiling, not a wall. Her mind was still so very hazy, and as she sat up the girl thought she might have been doing so on a bed.

And then she was on her back again, something holding her down. Mouda angled her head down a little, trying to focus her blue eyes on the object against her collarbone. A…rifle. The trigger end, thankfully, but still…why a rifle?

Have I been captured? The girl wondered, alarm bells failing to sound through her foggy mind. That's…no good…

"Don't sit up anymore" said a voice as the gun was lifted from her.

Mouda inhaled a small breath before tilting her head to the side, the white pillow beneath her blocking one half of the girl's vision. In the other half she saw a man. He was sitting on a chair not far from her, rifle on his lap. His hair was grey, and his eyes were half-lidded as they watched her.

"Where…is this…?" she breathed, her lungs feeling strained.

"A pirate ship" the man answered shortly.

"Oh…"

Mouda couldn't seem to feel afraid. Perhaps it was because of the unrelenting cloud of sleep that was hovering over her, but the fact that this man had a gun and was a pirate and didn't look elderly at all despite his grey hair wasn't bothering her just yet. At least it was a pirate ship and not a marine vessel. If she hadn't been caught, then Ace was probably-

A sharp pain cut through her chest as Mouda gasped, jerking herself upwards. "_Ace!_" she cried frantically, looking at the man with wide eyes. "Where's Ace?!"

"Oi, I told you not to sit up"

Again the grey haired figure pressed his rifle against her, pushing the girl to the mattress firmly. He waited a few minutes before setting the gun back down. "Ace got up earlier"

"Can I go see him?" she requested eagerly, even as her lungs were burning. She made sure not to sit up this time.

"I'll say no. Ace is fine- _you're_ the one who swallowed all the water"

Mouda frowned at him as he lit a cigarette. Had she really swallowed that much water? As if on cue, the girl could taste the remnants of salt in her mouth. "Oh!" she'd almost forgotten about it. "Thank you for saving my life"

"I was just told to watch over you"

Frowning again, the country girl remained silent as she folded her arms over her stomach. How long was she going to have to stay like this? How long had she been like this before now? How much earlier then her did Ace wake up?

"Did…" the girl chewed her lip, hesitant in making eye contact with the pirate. "Did Ace visit me while I was asleep?"

"Hm...no. He's been talking with the captain since he woke up"

Mouda felt herself sink into the bedding with disappointment. "I see…"

A little cloud of smoke left the man's mouth. "I guess you can get up now" he said, dropping the cigarette to the floor and stepping on it. The blonde continued to stare at the ceiling unhappily, his words unregistered. "…Hey, kid"

Blinking, Mouda tilted her head towards the grey haired pirate, her attentiveness dull. "Hm?"

"He's just outside the door. Go see him"

"Oh...I should do that…"

Crawling out from under the blankets, the girl's feet touched the wooden floor. Using the bed to steady herself, Mouda straightened her legs. They ached from being forced into use, the girl's baby steps carrying her to the door slowly. Laying an open hand on the wood surface, the farmer inhaled softly for her efforts, a faint stinging inside her chest.

"Alright?" asked the pirate, who had lit another cigarette.

"Yeah" she sighed heavily, wanting to sulk.

"The door isn't locked"

With a sigh that was even weightier then the first, Mouda pressed her forehead against the door. "Is it really okay for me to talk to him?" she mumbled.

More smoke floated through the room. "Doubt they'd mind"

Mouda blinked hard. He didn't know what she meant. Of course not, he didn't know it was her fault Ace had almost drowned. He probably thought she was being stupid- which she was, but-

"Do you know what their talking about?"

The blonde removed her forehead from the door, looking at the man curiously. "Do you?"

He crossed his arms, looking settled, and didn't answer her.

The doorknob twisted in her hand. Peeking beyond the doorframe, she spotted the pair quickly. They were both sitting down, drinking what was probably liquor as they spoke. The man talking with Ace was unfamiliar, his deep red hair shining in the sunlight. Ace had his back to her, scarring shoulders looking stiff. The girl was glad that he couldn't see her. What they were saying was too quiet to hear, but despite the red haired man's carefree expression, Mouda couldn't help but think they were talking about something serious.

They continued speaking, the air around them shifting as they did so. Things felt lighter and heavier at the same time, and then without warning Ace's voice became loud.

"Shanks! _I can NOT go at a time like this!_"

Something shattered in the midst of the pirate's anger, making a started squeak jump from Mouda's throat. She attempted to hold it back, but with a hasty intake of air her lungs revolted against her and immediately she started coughing. A hand flew to her mouth while the other curled against her chest, little stabs of pain filling up under her rib cage. Tears came to her eyes as she waited for the coughs to subside. The country girl breathed in and out slowly, freeing her mouth when she decided it must be over. Her hand stayed clenched against her shirt as she looked up at the pirates she had no doubt interrupted.

They were both looking in her direction. The unfamiliar man no longer wore a smile, but he didn't frown, either. At least he didn't look mad. Ace's expression was more uncertain- a mix of many feelings, the more visible one being anger, though it was fading fast.

"I…I'm sorry. I just…was surprised and the air got into me the wrong way…" gripping the cloth under her fingers even tighter, Mouda looked into Ace's dark eyes, hoping that he could see that she was being sincere. "Sorry"

The black haired pirate grimaced, his brown furrowing as he looked away from her.

"Ace, your wife is apologizing to you"

Mouda caught the line by some mystery, and jerked her head towards the redheaded man sharply. She expected herself to start blushing, but all she found herself doing was looking at him wondrously.

"Wife?!" Ace echoed the other pirate, mostly sounding mad.

Mouda directed her gaze to her feet.

"No?" the other man was grinning again, a knowing smile on his face that had Mouda confused about what to think of herself. "Lover, at least?"

Ace didn't answer, his eyes locked stubbornly on the shards of a cup.

"Um, I'm not-" the girl stopped herself for a moment as the red haired man's eyes came to rest on her. "We're not…lovers. I helped him escape Impel Down not too long ago, though it was mostly because of an acquaintance that I was able to…" she heard herself trail off, not feeling up to continuing. "That's…all"

The red haired man stared at her without saying anything, before lifting a hand to his mouth. A faint noise passed through the air, his shoulders jerking a little.

Mouda blinked. Did he just…laugh at her?

Her suspicions were confirmed as the man began chuckling, and then right out laughing, his hand failing to block out any of his amusement.

"I'm s-sorry!" he said in a snicker. "It's just- y-you have this really hilarious sunburn on your face and I c-can't help but-" he cut himself off with another round of _dahaha!_

Mouda tried not to scowl at him as she touched her cheek curiously. Suddenly her skin felt overly sensitive, with coldness and heat becoming uncomfortably indistinguishable. Running over to the railing, she looked down at the water far below her and squinted, seeing the red blotch spreading out around her nose. Whining, the country girl put a hand over her eyes.

For once I'm happy I don't tan, she thought to herself.

* * *

"So you're the captain!" Mouda said with a smile, directing it towards the red haired man. "Your crewmate _said_ Ace was talking to the captain. I should have realized it sooner, I'm sorry!"

"Not to worry!" Shanks laughed, patting the girl on the back. "Did you want anything, by the way? A drink? Food? Sake? Rum? Moonshine?"

"O-oh, no," she stammered. "That's alright"

"Are you sure? Because it wouldn't be any trouble. Look, Ace is already on his third bottle!"

Ace had been acting very sulky since earlier, drinking quietly by himself where they had left him by the railing. Mouda was now surrounded by whom she learn to be called the Red Haired pirates, led by their captain Shanks. It was noisy, and smelled like too many types of alcohol, but they were very friendly. She herself wasn't feeling very well still, and couldn't bring herself to act as cheerful as they were, although they tried to make it so.

"Mouda-chan, right?" a very large, bulbous man walked up to her, speaking in between bites of meat. "Want some?" he held out his half-eaten rack to her.

"Um…"

"No, she doesn't want any" the redhead beside her told him. "She already said no to me"

Suddenly the man was looking at her with these large, hurt puppy eyes that made her feel terrible for refusing him. Mouda caved, tearing a small piece of meat off the bone and nibbling on it.

Night had fallen not too long ago, stars filling the sky while the light of the moon illuminated the ship's deck. The night sky at her farm was always beautiful, but the distant shimmer of the sea and the tranquil rolling of the waves made it seem breathtaking.

Sitting quietly on a wooden crate, Mouda watched as the crew laughed and sang, mugs clanking together while they cheered for another round of drinking. She felt surprisingly peaceful despite the drunken men around her, a smile on her small mouth as she ate the plate of food a crewmember had brought out to her.

"Mouda?"

She must have missed the sound of his footsteps, but the country girl looked over her shoulder and there was Ace looking back at her. Blinking away her surprise, she let her smile widen. He'd finally left his gloomy spot by the rail.

"Hello!" she chirped.

"Hey," he crouched down in front of her, taking the plate off her lap and setting it on the wooden planks at her feet. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Mouda watched quietly as her food was taken away from her. Looking at Ace, she thought that his face might have been rather red.

Together they walked away from the fun and cheer over to where the man had been keeping himself for the past little while. The wind dashed through her blonde hair as Mouda neared the railing. The shirt she was wearing billowed around her knees softly, reminding the girl that this was all she wore. Buttoned all the way to the collar, it still threatened to slip from her shoulders.

Ace sat down, leaning back against the railing with a quiet sigh. Flattening the shirt against herself, Mouda took a seat next to him, her bare toes brushing against the shards of a cup as she stretched her legs out straight.

A hand clapped itself down on her shoulder, surprising her. Mouda slowly turned her blue eye on the Whitebeard pirate, not sure what to make of the gesture. As if they had only just appeared, Mouda noticed the many bottles lying around them, moonlight shining off their glass surfaces.

"I'm very sorry for using you as a hostage" he apologized. "Please forgive me"

"Oh…I'm not mad over it…" he really _did_ look sorry, even as his face was stained red with alcohol.

"And I'm sorry for not being nicer to you" the man continued, lifting his hand off her shoulder to rub his eyes.

"Are you going to apologize for giving me a stupid looking sunburn, too?"

She had said it as a joke, hoping to lighten his mood, but instead he nodded. "Sorry for giving you a stupid looking sunburn"

Mouda stared at his moonlit form quietly. The man's hand was still over his eyes, making his expression uncertain. He seemed so upset, and yet the girl couldn't recall anything that would have made him this way.

What's the matter, Ace? Despite her strong yearning to ask, the question wouldn't leave her mouth. Surely just being drunk doesn't make you like this, does it…?

Doing the only thing she could think of, the blonde girl reached up and patted his head. He'd done so for her not that long ago. It was a brief memory of affection for her- maybe this would be one for both of them, should he remember it.

Her patting motions were stopped as Ace uncovered his face and took hold of the girl's hand with his own, lifting it from his head. Mouda stared up him as he held it there, her heart racing. His eyes, now unhidden, looked brighter in the moonlight- more intense and heated. The look seemed to match the rest of him, as warmth flowed through her captured hand to the very tips of her toes. It made her forget about the cool breeze that licked at her skin and the shirt covering it.

Hearing faint noises in the distance, it made her realize how far away they were from everyone else. Mouda parted her lips slightly, trying to think of something to say. All thoughts fled as Ace started to lean closer.

An indescribable feeling came over her. It seemed like something small and subtle that had always been there, but it filled her entire body. He was even closer now, face shadowed as his breath washed over her face. It smelled horrible, and yet she welcomed it. Her eyelids started to fall, the hand around hers becoming tighter.

Then Ace fell over, his face landing in her lap.

Mouda yelped, all the anticipation and excitement spilling out of her with the small noise. The pirate was gripping her hand rigidly, and she trembled helplessly for a moment as his nose pressed between her legs. Prying his fingers open, she then used her hands to shift Ace's head to a more appropriate position. Soon afterwards loud snoring noises floated through the air, and the girl looked down at the sleeping pirate with a half-smile.

The thundering inside her chest had subsided, and the unbelievably thrilling sensation she had felt was gone. Now it was just piece and quite, and lots of sake bottles.

A blush painted the girl's cheeks beneath her burnt skin, and after glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Mouda played with his hair until her legs became numb.

* * *

I bring you the eleventh chapter of ACGP! Its Mouda meets Shanks and co.! Congratulations to those who guessed it, but I'll have to admit I was a little overeager to give out hints. I was just so excited. Things can go smoothly from here on, I think, so long as my story doesn't take off on me unexpectedly. Smooth writing, I mean. It won't be smooth for Mouda at all, really. Hahaha. Narcolepsy. I shouldn't laugh at it, but I will for this chapter.

It's hard for me to get a grasp on characters like Ben, who are so calm and cool. I hope he wasn't too terrible.

So, a total of ten people voted on my poll! It was a five-to-five tie between a story about Shanks and Makino and an alteration of ACGP's story for fun! No one liked Coby enough to vote for him, it seems. But! Regardless of what any of you voted for, I'm pleased to say that _all three_ of these stories are in production, all with titles and relatively clear storylines and at least half of a chapter. Please look forward to them at the end of ACGP!

Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I look forward to hearing from my regulars and newcomers as well! Don't forget to keep an eye out for the next chapter in FAPV, which should be up in a matter of minutes!


	12. A Country Girl's Romance

A Country Girl's Romance

Arching her back, Mouda held her breath as she attempted to fasten the last tiny hook on the back of her dress. It kept slipping from her fingers, and the perspiration forming on the digits wasn't helping. The soft yellow cloth brushed against the very start of her knees as she continued to struggle. Finally, _finally_, the hook found its place within the matching loop and she straightened herself. The girl adjusted the short sleeves atop her shoulders briskly and ran her fingers down the front of the garment, taking in a breath of air for assurance.

It looked nice.

The sunburn on her face had died down a little, the skin around her nose a vibrant pink. This was thanks to a type of lotion one of the crewmembers had given to her, who she suspected to be a physician of sorts. It was green and jelly-like, cooling her on contact and soaking into the burnt area quickly. She would have to thank the man the next time she saw him. When that time might end up being was unknown to her. While not nearly as grand as the Whitebeard captain's ship, Shanks' ship was respectively large as well, with a few levels to it and many rooms.

After she had slipped her numb legs out from under Ace's head and wandered quietly back to her dinner plate last night, the pirate who had been at her bedside came and introduced himself as Ben Beckman, the first mate. The man escorted her to a room on the second level of the ship, telling her that by captain's orders she was to treat it as her own until she and Ace parted ways with them. The way he spoke was nonchalant and brief, as though he didn't care if she listened to what he said or not, but Mouda sensed candor in the first mate's words.

Knowing she was welcome, the girl slept as peacefully as though she were in her own bed.

Now it was morning, and with her dressing finished, the blonde strolled through the corridors of the second level of the ship curiously. Passing by a window, the girl peeked through it, amazed at how the ocean remained stunning even through a dusty plate of glass.

Continuing with her small adventure, Mouda rounded a corner and spotted an open doorway. Stepping closer, she caught a glimpse of a bookshelf. So pirates collected books along with other treasures? The girl smiled at the unexpected knowledge. There might even be book here that she'd like to read. The captain seemed very nice, so if she asked then perhaps he would let her borrow one for the time being.

Walking up to the alluring collection, a creek in the floorboards caught her attention and she looked to the side in surprise. Bare skin. Red hair. More surprise.

Bolting back out of the room, Mouda squished herself against the wall in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, hands over her eyes even after they shut themselves.

A familiar laugh sounded from the room, a bit of rustling joining in before Shanks walked out to meet her, doing up the final buttons of his shirt. "No worries here! I had my pants on after all, right?"

"R-right" Mouda stammered, realizing the silliness of her reaction. She'd been so shocked to see him wearing less then normal that the girl hadn't really taken notice of what all was being shown. Shyly the farmer lowered her hands from her face.

Shanks gave another humored laugh, a hand on his hip. "So what were you doing peeking into my room, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I- I wasn't!" she sputtered, cheeks flushing. "I absolutely wasn't! I just wanted to look at the books, honestly!"

"Books?" the redhead turned his attention to the filled bookshelf beside him. "You enjoy reading, Mouda-chan?"

"Um, sometimes!" the girl offered, glad to have shifted the topic slightly. "My mom lets me read the books she gets once she's finished with them"

"Oh, I see. What sort are they?"

"Romance, mostly"

"Really?" the man chuckled. "It just so happens that I have quite a few romance novels in my collection"

"You _do?_" Mouda heard herself ask, incredulous. She'd never seen her father pick up a romance novel in her whole life.

"Of course!" Shanks grinned at her merrily. "Adventuring through the vastness of the ocean is said to be a romantic idea, isn't it?"

A smile bloomed on the country girl's face as she nodded at the captain's words.

* * *

As a warm sea breeze danced past her Mouda tightened her hold on the book in her hands, the pages rustling under her fingers. At first she had been reading in her room, but somehow it had felt too lonely and eventually she made her way up onto the deck where most of the crew was. It was like the party from last night hadn't even ended- the cheer and fun was still radiating in the air.

Laughing softly at the text in front of her, the blonde was surprised when something hit the back of her head lightly.

"Huh?" she reacted dazedly, looking around for the source of the strike. Ace appeared in her field of vision, making her smile. "Ace! How are you feeling?"

Ace stared at her for a moment, the wind pulling at his black hair. "I'm good. Why?"

"I thought you might be sick," the girl explained, looking back to her novel. "Because you drank so much last night"

"Oh…" he shifted himself slightly, hands in his pockets. "Say…did I happen to talk to you or anything then?"

"You sure did!" Mouda chirped, reading the same sentence in her book at least five times. "You said you were sorry for a couple of things and then-" her throat tightened and she swallowed to clear a path for words. "And then you fell asleep!"

He laughed at her hasty recollection. "Yeah, that sounds like me. Sorry, that must have been annoying, huh?"

The country girl shook her head absently at the pirate's assumption, turning a page. There was a moment where neither of them spoke.

A long moment.

"You're pretty absorbed in that book, aren't you?" Ace asked humorously. "What's it about?"

Turning herself to the side, Mouda held the novel up slightly to give him a view of both the front cover and the back description whist she kept her blue eyes glued to the story. The girl heard the man cough oddly, breaking her out of the forced concentration she had applied to reading.

"This is a…romance story, right?" he said in a voice that was nearly disbelieving.

Mouda peeked at him from behind the book. "It is. I've read it before, but it's still a really good story"

"…You have?"

Her eyes left the pages again, the girl unable to resist giving him a weird look. "I have"

"But, uh…" the pirate coughed for the second time, lifting a hand to cover his mouth as he eyed the cover. "This is adult rated, isn't it?"

"…Yes. Why?"

"Well, it's just sort of- I mean, isn't there…um…"

"Sex?" Mouda guessed, picking the first uncomfortable topic to come to mind. Much to her surprise, Ace's face reddened. It almost looked like he was the one with the sunburn instead of her. But then, could he even get sunburns?

"Y-yeah, that" he mumbled.

"There's a scene like that at the beginning of the book here," the farmer explained, flicking to the front of the book and running an index finger across the pages for him to see. "And there are just little parts here and there throughout the story, until the last chapter where it's focused on a lot more"

With his hand still over his mouth, Ace continued to stare at her wordlessly. Shifting on her feet, Mouda found the page she had left off at and continued to try and read, feeling overly conscious of the man's judgmental observation of her.

"You read that stuff?" he spoke finally, asking a repetitive question.

"Yes" the blonde wasn't so amazed to find her eyes rolling. "Why is it so hard to believe that I read?"

"Oh no, it isn't that I don't think you read" Ace uncovered his mouth, running the lifted hand through his hair. "I just- I mean, you're a girl, and…isn't it sort of dirty to you?"

Mouda latched onto the statement and bombarded it with irritation, frowning up at the man. "There's nothing dirty about lovemaking"

Ace looked taken aback. "But those types things more like- I don't know, porn, right?"

The girl's frown deepened considerably as she shut the book hard. "Have _you_ read this book before, Ace?"

"Wha- no, why would I-"

"Then you can't say something like that!" Mouda cut in.

He snorted. "Just because I haven't read it doesn't mean I don't know what kind of stuff-"

Mouda stood on her toes and shoved the book in Ace's face, quieting him. "Read it, then! Read it, and then come back and just _try_ and tell me its pornography!"

After a few slowly passing seconds the pirate took hold of the book. "…Yes ma'am" he said reluctantly.

The blonde girl nodded heatedly.

Tucking the novel into his shorts pocket, Ace smiled lightly while leaning against the rail of the ship. "But now that I've taken your book, what will you do?"

Blinking, Mouda placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Taha! I didn't think of that…" an idea suddenly came to mind, making the girl blush. "I-I know…since I gave you a story, how about you give me some?"

Ace's head tilted to the side sharply. "Huh?"

"Tell me some adventure stories!" she clarified cheerfully.

The black haired man grinned uncertainly. "I don't know if piracy stories would make a good substitute for a romance novel…"

Mouda chewed her lip, searching herself for a way to convince him. The sound of waves rolled through her ears, making the girl recall something from that morning. "Adventuring through the vastness of the ocean is said to be a romantic idea…isn't it?" she tried, her eyes not quite meeting Ace's.

Chuckling, the pirate tucked his arms behind his head. "Well, I guess you could say that. Let's see, a good story…"

With the lulling sound of the ocean in the background, Mouda listened to him tell her about times when he had met various crew members and when he had gotten into fights. He told her about events that took place on strange islands and how he'd developed a few of his fighting techniques, the girl smiling all the while. Distantly she felt that he was keeping the darker tales to himself, but for now it didn't matter. Just hearing him speak to her so endlessly was wonderful.

Resting her head in her arms as she placed them on the railing, Mouda glanced up at Ace. The sun was behind him, illuminating the man's figure as his voice continued to fill her ears. She closed her blue eyes, sighing peacefully. So bright and warm, just like the sun. So unlike anyone else.

Yes…this is why…

"…Ace?"

"So then I-" Ace paused, picking up on the faint but audible voice. "Yeah?"

The girl opened her eyes slightly, something shining in them.

"I really…love you"

* * *

Happy Valentine's day, beloved readers! My present to you all is this sparkly new chapter of ACGP! It might seem short, but it was almost two-thousand words, so its not the shortest chapter in the bunch!

The title of the chapter was totally written beforehand, and the only reason why I'm posting this on Valentine's day (or a bit after, depending on time zones) is because I'm leaving for Cuba tomorrow and I was eager to update before I go- but it sure was a nice coincidence, huh?

With that said, I'm going to Cuba for a little family vacation in the next few hours. I'll be back home on the twenty-second of this month, probably just before midnight. I won't be able to give you the FAPV counterpart until then! I'm sorry to make you all wait! I'm bringing my trusty drawing binder with blank and lined paper alike, so rest assured that although I'll be at an all-inclusive resort beside sandy shores for a week of swimming and sun, I'll still be working diligently on my stories!

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I look forward to reading any reviews I might receive when I come home!


	13. A Country Girl's Patience

A Country Girl's Patience

The wind blew over her figure, making the girl shiver despite the painful heat trailing down her cheeks. Leaning forward, her fingers gripped the railing of the ship hard as the wood dug into her already aching gut. Blonde hair spilled over her trembling shoulders, pearls of salty water dripping down into the ocean from behind the golden curtain.

"What's this? Mouda-chan, you're crying!"

Swallowing a sob, the shaking of her shoulders lessened as Mouda unlatched one of her hands to brush it over her face. She slowly lifted her head, bangs clinging to her eyelashes. Shanks had bent himself down a little to peer at her, one hand on his hip as he wore a concerned expression.

"Did Ace make you cry?" the pirate captain said in a way that sounded more like an accusation then a question.

The mention of his name made her blue eyes spill over again, strands of platinum matting to her cheeks as she shook her head. "N-no…!" the girl said through a sniffle. "U-um, I m-made myself cry…"

The redhead was unconvinced, a frown on his face. "Well, he must have said something, am I right?"

Sniffing again, Mouda wagged her head. A smile appeared on her face, shoulders jerking with each trapped whimper. "No, h-he…he didn't really…say anything…" she squeezed her eyes shut. "He didn't say _anything_…"

She fell back into crying before she could stop herself, her other hand slipping from the rail so both could curl into the front of her dress. Her head slumped down once more, too heavy for the country girl to hold up. An arm wrapped around her shoulders, Mouda sinking against Shanks' side almost instantly.

"Let's have a seat, Mouda" the red haired man instructed, lowering himself down onto the planks of wood. The girl's knees bent to settle beside him, her ears not noticing the missing honorific. "We'll just sit here for a little while, okay?"

Mouda did not protest nor agree. She simply stayed where she was, crying quietly until the pirate's cotton shirt was soaked through.

"I'm sorry" she apologized once her tears had run out. "I'm such a bother"

"That's not true at all!" Shanks smiled even though she wasn't looking at him. "You've been wonderful"

"No, I haven't!" she protested, her voice cracking. "I can't do anything useful, and I'm a-always saying something stupid! I- I hadn't even been paying attention! I was just off in my own little world, and before I knew it I'd said something like that! It was supposed to stay in my head, but I always…" she pulled her hands to her face. "Always seem to blurt out things…"

"Listen, Mouda" Shanks sounded so very serious that she couldn't help but look him in the eye. "The feelings people have are what make humans what they are. It's never stupid to express them"

For a moment the platinum blonde felt stunned. "B-but…it made him upset…"

The captain removed his arm from her to drop it to his side. "And _why_ should that matter?"

"Why?" she squeaked. "B-because there's no reason for him to keep me around! I'm only here because it would be too out of his way to take me home!"

"You're just jumping to conclusions" the redhead told her, patting the girl's sore head. "Has he said anything like that?"

"Well _no_, but-"

"Believe me, if Ace thought something like _that_, he'd _definitely_ let you know" the man assured her. "I know him well enough to be sure of that"

Mouda sniffed again, rubbing her red nose discreetly. "So you're very familiar with Ace?"

"I knew him and his brother back when they were children" he told her, a nostalgic look in his eyes. "When I made their home town our base for a year. I spent more time with Luffy, though. Ace didn't like me very much, sad to say"

The farm hand stared at him for a moment, feeling shocked. She didn't know Ace had a _brother!_ Why hadn't this been mentioned before?! Then again, the black haired pirate never mentioned much at all unless she asked him about it. Shanks seemed to think she knew about it, though. The shock faded quickly, her mind already too occupied to cling to the sensation for long.

"I…see" she managed.

"Ah, but I'm getting off topic now" the man said with a shake of his head. "The main thing to remember is that Ace doesn't dislike you"

"But then why-"

"Didn't he say anything?" he finished knowingly. "I'm sure he wanted to, on some level. He's a difficult kid- too stubborn for his own good. But the more patience you have, the better the result will be when he finally does answer. That much I can promise" the redhead smiled a convincing smile. "So just be patient, and cheer up! Making you cry is the last thing he wants to do"

The girl rubbed her blue eyes dry. "Mm…I think I can do that"

"Should I beat him up anyways?" Shanks offered jokingly.

"No, no, that's fine!" Mouda waved her hands fretfully. "I'm feeling better already!"

* * *

Tip-toeing down the corridor, the girl supposed she felt a bit nervous over where she was going.

It had been a few hours since her moment with Ace up on deck. Her face was now cleaned and dry, not showing a single trace of tears. The meager knots in her hair and the dull ache in the girl's chest was all that remained of her crying self.

Mouda stopped in front of a door, inspecting it. It looked just the same as every other door on the ship, but it seemed and felt and probably _tasted_ foreboding, so she was sure this was the right room. She reached for the handle and started to pull, forgetting to knock in her anxiousness. Her presence was announced by the harsh squeak of hinges. The blonde cringed as she waited for it to stop, failing to make the connection between the noise and her pulling.

Staring past the doorframe, the girl saw him lying on the bed and swallowed her fear.

"Hello!" she said with all possible cheer. "Captain Shanks said you'd asked for a room, so I thought I'd visit!"

There was no answer. Poking her head into the room a little further, the girl gathered up another bundle of courage. "Um, about earlier…I'm sorry for saying what I did! I wasn't expecting reciprocation or anything so don't worry about it!"

Again, the pirate's response was nothing but silence. It was too quiet and her head was starting to feel hot again, a sense of déjà vu making her eyes water. Determined, Mouda placed a single foot over the threshold. "Ace, please say something!"

The cry went unheard. Plunging into the room, the girl looked to the man's face for a reaction and immediately felt foolish.

Ace was sleeping.

For a few seconds she stared at him, watery eyes looking over every detail as the door shut behind her. A novel was in one of his hands, fingers between the pages. So he had started to read it, after all. Mouda's eyelids fell halfway over her vision, the girl's surprise dulled by relief. The mist in her vision cleared and she stepped closer to graze her fingertips along the edge of the bed. They continued to travel, palms running across the smooth sheet until her hands met warm skin. An unexpected sensation washed over her as they closed over his bicep.

Touching him felt thrilling at the moment.

Ace slept very soundly. That was one of the few things about him she knew was true. Standing here like this, Mouda concluded that she could do almost anything to him and the pirate probably wouldn't wake up. Knowing that he _could_ wake up kept her from thinking about it for too long, however, and her small hands pulled away from his arm reluctantly. Pushing down on the mattress, Mouda boosted herself up to take a seat on the bed, her legs dangling off the side as she made herself comfortable. Just sitting here was fine, wasn't it?

The farmer remained as she was, staring at the heavy wooden door across from her. The small, rounded window was dusty. From this distance it looked nearly opaque. Hard to look through. Mouda felt her hand flex into the bedding. No one would see.

Having convinced herself, the girl slumped onto her side. Tucking her feet up, she then rolled over so she was facing the young man beside her. The last time they had shared a bed, she had kept her back to him. She hadn't turned her head or made any attempts to touch him, just as she'd promised at the time.

With a soft blush on her cheeks Mouda shifted just a tiny bit closer and pressed her forehead against his shoulder.

There, she thought contentedly. This is enough.

The warmth of his skin soaked through her bangs with ease, and under her happy calmness the country girl was drifting away. Eyelids already closed, the girl made little attempt to stop herself. Her voice of reason told her she would wake up in a few minutes anyways, and her less sensible side noted that even if she didn't, it was still okay.

The blonde dozed off, her body still somewhere within her sense's range. Everything was so warm and dark. Her hearing was gone, and the bed she had fallen asleep on felt millions of miles away. The only thing she had an awareness of was the soft heat fluttering inside of her. It flowed up to the tips of things that were probably her fingers and toes. Blackness and sparkles of nothing filled her vision, and as she shifted in some tiny way, the girl supposed she was dreaming by now.

A meek tingle ran across her skin. It brushed lightly against her cheek before a firmer touch replaced it, hot and stirring. The pressure lifted for a moment, drifting over her again before finding her mouth. Her mind was still in darkness, but Mouda felt her physical self illuminate with the soft, heated sensation against her lips. The girl reached out with her sense of touch, trying to find something to pull the feeling closer- make it _more_. She found nothing to grasp, her dream diluted self asking a question she knew the answer to by instinct.

_What is this…?_

Mouda finally found purchase in the black, bright nothingness.

_A kiss._

What a nice dream, she thought, her fingers curling tighter.

* * *

It was only when a yawn slipped out of her mouth that Mouda realized she was awake again. Lifting a hand up to rub at her eyes, it took a few seconds of blinking before she could see properly. Then she stared blankly at the wall in front of her, at the empty space where a sleeping pirate had been only moments ago, and at her own fingers.

"_AH!_" she jolted upwards with a yell. Her blonde hair whipped in the air as she glanced towards the door and then at the rest of the room. The girl's panic only worsened as she saw Ace sitting on the bed as well, leaning back against the wall as he looked at her over an open book. "How long was I sleeping for?!" she blurted

"Not too sure" he replied, sounding decidedly unbothered as he turned a page. "I'm almost done this, so maybe an hour or two"

Mouda covered her eyes disbelievingly.

"Why were you sleeping in here anyways?"

As Ace asked this question, the country girl realized she'd been dreading it and began fiddling with her wrinkled dress to help her think. "W-well, I decided to come visit, but you were sleeping, so I thought I'd wait for you to wake up, maybe, but then I was really tired so I sort of fell asleep too…" her face was painfully hot as she mumbled. "…How's the book?"

The pirate's tone changed slightly as he answered. "It's okay"

"Not pornography?"

He stared at the pages hard, as though embarrassed. "I…guess not. No, it isn't"

Mouda felt a victorious smile creep up on her face, but she said nothing, waiting for him to finish. When the last page had been turned and the book was closed, the girl clapped her hands together.

Much to her surprise Ace jumped at the action, holding the novel up as though it might protect him from whatever danger he was in. The country girl carried on anyway, her lips curved upwards merrily as she pulled the book from his grasp.

"I heard you have a brother!" the girl said whilst placing the novel on her lap. "What's he like?"

Ace swallowed audibly, looking- _dare she think it_- panicked. "My brother?"

She nodded. "Is he a pirate like you are?"

The man ran a hand through his hair, looking puzzled as he slowly let himself relax. "That's what you want to talk about?" he wondered.

"Of course!" Mouda laughed.

After a second of hesitance Ace met her blue eyes with his dark ones, an emotion akin to gratitude in them as he told her yes, his brother was also a pirate.

* * *

If changes need to be made to particular category on the site, would I send this information to 'categories at fanficion dot com'? Because in the One Piece section of characters they have Coby listed as Cody, and I know it isn't a big deal, but it's _really_ bothering me! I just look at it and go, "who the hell got his name wrong?!"

Moving right along, I give to you the thirteenth chapter of ACGP! I wish I could have gotten it out faster for you all. Trafalgar Law distracted me, so I…I just couldn't…manage my brain properly for a while.

There was a bit more Shanks and Mouda interaction here, because I just love Shanks. Then it's back to Mouda. She cheered up pretty quickly, I know, but as I picture her in my head, I see a girl with a very big heart who's as optimistic as can be. A little tears couldn't possibly derail her!

If you found the beginning confusing, then read From A Pirate's Viewpoint. If you don't want to do that, then no worries! His reaction to her second confession was just as she said it was- he didn't say anything. See? Confusion gone.

I almost don't feel like doing an Ace POV for this chapter, just so I can keep things a mystery. But I guess that would be to mean. I made you all wait so long, after all! Don't worry, I'll do one.

Hope you all enjoyed my update, and I'll see you again next time! Whenever that might be. Hopefully not too far in the future.


	14. A Country Girl's Dream

A Country Girl's Dream

A gunshot ran through the air, the bottle that had been placed on the rail of the ship shattering as the bullet hit its mark. Flints of glass flew through the air, most of the pieces falling into the ocean

Mouda smiled at the scene, the pistol in her hands smoking faintly from the recent use.

It had been roughly two weeks since she and Ace were saved by Shanks' crew. The girl never had much to do- the interesting books on the red haired captain's self had dwindled to none, and the tasks on board she could help with seemed to fall into the minus zone. Rather than helping, Mouda would have been a nuisance. She knew that and the crew knew that, so neither made any offers.

She had been well on her way to becoming a very bored country girl, until one of the men approached her and asked if she'd been taught how to use a gun. She said no- that her da had always been against the use of firearms.

So today Mouda found herself under the tutelage of Yasopp, the Red Haired pirate's sharpshooter. He was a very nice man despite his burly appearance, and the blonde felt happy as he praised her for her good aim.

"You've got good eyes" the man told her, making a motion as if to pat the girl on the head, but stopping half way to reach towards the gun in her hands instead. "Make sure to keep yourself steady, though-" he lifted her arms, squeezing them lightly so the gun pointed unwaveringly at where the glass bottle once sat. "You have to remain on target no matter how much your insides quiver. If you miss, it could mean the end"

"R…right" Mouda breathed, the pistol suddenly feeling very heavy.

"What are you guys doing?"

The blond girl lowered her gun as she looked to her left, Ace approaching them with a curious expression on his face, his dark eyes trained on the firearm in her hands.

"Yasopp-san is teaching me how to use a gun!" she told him cheerfully, removing one hand from the weapon to brush some of her hair back.

"Not just a gun, but a pistol" the sharpshooter corrected. "What type of gun you use is very important, since their all made differently, and even the slightest change can affect your accuracy"

The girl nodded diligently.

"Hey!" Ace looked to the older pirate with a frown. "Don't teach her stuff like this!"

"Why not?" Mouda tilted her head to the side as though it might help her see a negative side to the lessons.

"The way I see it, boy, is that you don't have any say in what she wants to do with herself" Yasopp pointed out.

"I wasn't asking for your opinion!" Ace barked. "And don't call me boy!"

"I want to learn" the country girl put her foot between the two men cautiously. "Target practice gives me something to do"

The sharpshooter nodded at Mouda's comment while speaking to Ace again. "She needs to occupy herself. Better to have her do something constructive while she's at it"

"Why can't you just have her help with cooking or something?" the black haired man complained, taking the gun from Mouda's hands without warning. "It's a lot less dangerous"

The blonde got on her toes, reaching for the pistol that was being held out of her reach. "I don't know how to cook fancy things!"

"What kind of girl doesn't know how to cook?" Ace asked with an unconvinced laugh.

"That's not what I said! I said I couldn't cook _fancy_, that doesn't mean I can't cook at all!" Mouda dropped to the flat of her feet and took a few gulps of air before trying to reach for the weapon again. "And _please give that back to me!_"

Yasopp stared at their antics for a moment before giving Ace a sidelong glance. "…Now your just teasing her, aren't you?"

"Looks fun, right?"

* * *

In the end, Mouda had never gotten the gun back. Yasopp assured her they could continue with practice another day, but for now her lessons were on hold. Bored, the country girl made her way below deck and headed to the room she had been given. Flopping down on the bed, She gave a short sigh before wriggling out of her boots. It was a bit early, but no harm would come of simply lying in bed for a little while.

"It isn't as though there's anything else for me to do…" she mumbled, rolling onto her stomach and pressing her face into the blanket.

Being at sea was nice- to a degree. The water was beautiful during all times of day and night, and the sea breeze was revitalizing. After so many hours of it, however, the sun would begin to burn or the nighttime air would go cold and Mouda found herself loosing interest. She didn't _love_ sailing. She didn't love being miles away from land, traveling for weeks at the thrill of what she might find once they arrived at the next island. Her eagerness to reach their destination was simply the eagerness to get back trees and rocks and grasslands- nothing more, nothing less.

She wasn't someone who enjoyed the lifestyle of a pirate. Not like Ace. Knowing this, the girl couldn't help but sense a gap between them. It made her worried and unsure of how to act. Her father had always disapproved of using guns, and as his daughter she followed his ways- so the desire to learn how to use one was probably nothing more then an attempt at filling that gap. Ace was against the idea, which could be taken in a number of ways. Either he liked her as she was, a simple country girl, or…

Or he wanted to keep her as far away from him as possible, hoping eventually they would disconnect completely and she would forget about him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud sniffle that came from none other then herself, surprising the girl. With a weary sigh Mouda lifted herself and slid under the blanket, pulling it over her head shortly afterwards. She curled onto her side, hands pressing against her chest tightly. Trying to endure all of these feelings was tiring. It hurt.

Mouda closed her blue eyes, the blanket shielding out the light in the room and the noise from above. All that was left was the distant rocking of the ship and the faint crooning to be heard as the water pushed against it.

The next time Mouda opened her eyes, it was because of a knock at her door. Realizing she had been asleep, the girl scrambled out from underneath her blanket, rolling off to the bed and onto the floor. Feeling more awake thanks to the sudden collision with the wooden planks, the blonde tried to stand up and tripped to the door, grabbing the handle to keep herself from falling over. Steadying herself, Mouda then took a few quiet intakes of air and opened the door to see who her visitor was.

"Sorry," Ace told her when looking at the girl. "Did I wake you up?"

"Wha- n-no, why? What time is it?" Mouda lifted her hands to her head, patting down her static blonde hair. Strands of platinum were sticking to her face and she pushed them away, only to have them cling to her neck instead.

"It's almost noon" the man answered, a grin on his face. He was no doubt laughing at how frazzled she must have looked.

Mouda paused in fixing her hair. Almost noon? That couldn't be right- she had lain down just shortly after noon, hadn't she?

Her stomach growled and she covered her abdomen in embarrassment. She'd slept right through until the next day! "Why didn't you wake me sooner?" she complained, following Ace as he headed towards the galley.

"I didn't think I was supposed to" Ace admitted, scratching the back of his head as he walked. "I came by last night, too, but you'd already gone to bed. I figured you must have been tired and let you sleep"

"Next time, please don't let me sleep in so much…" the girl mumbled.

They entered the galley and Mouda shyly asked the chef for something to eat and a glass of milk, to which he laughed. Some of the crewmembers thought it was funny she didn't drink, this one included. More for them, she thought, sipping her milk with pink cheeks. Beside her, Ace had fallen asleep with his face buried in a plate of food.

* * *

Later, when Ace had woken up and bother their plated had been cleaned, they went up on deck and traveled to the rail of the ship. Mouda was starting to notice that a majority of their conversations over the past little while had occurred in such places, and the girl wondered if he liked this sort of setting the most. Shutting her eyes, she took a deep breath of the salty air and exhaled as her muscles unwound. Lifting her eyelids, Mouda smiled a little at the passing clouds.

"So," Ace asked suddenly. "Does the sea look any different to you?"

Mouda stared out at the mass of water, searching for something out of the ordinary. The girl finally shook her head, her hair swishing back and forth against the breeze. "…Should it?"

The man at her side chuckled faintly. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to notice anything, but it _is_ different…" leaning against the rail, Ace pointed out into the distance at a place she couldn't see. "Out there is my hometown of Fuchsia…we'll reach there in about two days time"

In Ace's voice was pride, but also a bit of reluctance. He might have been happy to be visiting home, but the black haired man had mentioned to her that these circumstances weren't the ones he wanted. He'd been dragged away from his task of hunting the man named Marshall D. Teach and was now further away from him then he would have ever liked. On top of that, having to carry around a country girl like herself probably did little to help Ace's situation. Although Mouda should have been feeling guilty at this point, a bubble of giddiness filled her chest as she looked out at the ocean in awe.

"So…we're not on the Grand Line anymore?" she breathed, her blue eyes widening along with her smile. "I'm looking at East Blue…wow…"

The afternoon light glittering atop the water pricked at her eyes and Mouda looked away. Her head bowed, the girl's hair spilled over the railing slightly and tried to cling to the splintered wood. As she continued to stare downwards, Mouda saw the edge of her red skirt and noticed how flattened some of the frills had become. She should have changed before coming outside. Her clothes had become creased from sleeping in them.

"Something wrong?" Ace asked from beside her, possibly curious about her sudden silence.

As if the question had been a trigger, Mouda felt her eyes water. Swallowing, she shook her head and let the sensation of her forehead brushing against the railing sooth her. "No…I was just thinking about something…" the girl's voice faded, and this time there was nothing for her to swallow. "I never thought I'd see an ocean different then the one that I grew up seeing" Mouda admitted. "I've never thought of traveling the seas or becoming a pirate or anything like that. I'm just a bit shocked"

The fire user kept silent for a moment, perhaps sensing her melancholy. "Is that a bad thing?" he wondered.

The country girl lifted her head again, resting her chin on the railing as she stared at the waters of East Blue, this time not minding the pinpricks of sunlight in her eyes. "I'm a little jealous" she told him. "That you and so many other people can have these really big dreams"

"You don't have any dreams?"

Mouda shook her head a little. "Not really. I'm happy with my daily life of taking care of the cows and picking apples, and walking two hours to get to the post office…" she trailed off for a moment but soon finished. "It's a simple life and I don't think there's any room for big dreams in it"

"I didn't _say_ big dreams" Ace pointed out, and the blonde felt him flick her head. "I just said dreams. They don't have to be really big ones…" the man put his arms behind his head, his scarred back pressing against the wood rail. It's not like I'm aiming to be the pirate king myself, you know"

The country girl nodded, not quite thinking about what she'd been told. "I might have some…just the really simple ones, though, the kind every girl has…"

Her ocean blue eyes shifted towards Ace, curious of what his thoughts were. He was looking out at the sea, his face tilted ever so slightly in the direction he had pointed to not that long ago. The pirate didn't wear any revealing kind of expression, and Mouda soon looked away, her face becoming scarlet. The jealously she had been feeling twisted into a bitter sort of disappointment. Mouda knew that even if she had a dream, no matter how simple or common it was, she wouldn't be able to achieve it.

She was only a country girl, after all.

* * *

Well, it's sure been a while, hasn't it? I'll have to apologize, I got awfully sidetracked with a different story of mine. The good news is I finished a multi-chapter story for the first time in my life, and I wrote it in less than a month! If you're a fan of Rumiko Takahashi's new work, 'Kyoukai no Rinne' then feel free to check out my story 'A Date', which was the very fist story submitted for that series!

So, it was a pretty calm chapter…something like a prelude to the new arc. I kind of did a cop-out with getting them from the Grand Line to East Blue while Mouda was asleep, but I was working with Oda's one single plot hole, so can you blame me? Other then that, I actually don't have much to comment on. Hm. Can anyone guess what Mouda's dream is?

_BY THE WAY_. If any of you happen to be One Manga fourm members, an AcexMouda fan club was created recently. I've doodled up some fan art and slapped it on there, so feel free to take a look or maybe even_ join_, if you feel so inclined.


	15. A Country Girl’s Innocence

A Country Girl's Innocence

Mouda's boots touched the solid ground for the first time weeks, a bizarre dizziness hitting her as she looked at the small port town she was facing. It was somewhere in between the rural farming scenery that was her home and the city that neighbored it, giving the girl a gleeful sense of nostalgia.

"Fuchsia…?" the blonde asked herself, doing a slow twirl on one foot to take in more of her surroundings. "It's so nice!"

"Are you just saying that because its on land, I wonder?" asked a familiar man's voice, Ace coming up beside her.

Mouda puffed her cheeks out a little. "I can't help it!" she insisted.

The fire user laughed at her, throwing his traveling pack over his shoulder as he strode forward. Glancing back at the fifteen-year-old, he waved to her invitingly.

"Come on. I'll show you my house!"

Dropping her irritated expression, Mouda skipped after him with an air of excitement. She hadn't been given a proper description of the young man's house, so when they arrived at their destination, the country girl was neither disappointed nor amazed. The house Ace had supposedly grown up in was a one-story building of a rather average design. The door creaked slightly as he opened it, the pair staring through the doorway as though it was a first time for both of them.

"…Excuse me for intruding!" Mouda said in a sing-song tone, stepping past the threshold when Ace continued to stare at the inside of his house quietly. Turning towards him, she let her blonde bands obscure her face she eyed his still figure. "What's wrong?" the girl wondered.

"Uh…" Ace took a small step forward, lifting a hand to his face. "Nothing- it's nothing. Been a while since I've been home. Coming back here without someone to greet me feels kind of weird, that's all…"

The country girl watched as the pirate chucked to himself, a small frown on her lips. Stepping farther from the doorway, Mouda then turned herself towards the young man and put on a bright smile for him.

"Welcome home!" she cheered, letting out a pained cry when Ace smacked her on the head.

"No!" he chided. "That's not funny!"

"I- I wasn't trying to be funny, though…!"

"Well it's not cute, either!"

Mouda sighed in lament. "I wasn't trying to be cute…" watching as the man disappeared from her field of vision, the girl rubbed the spot on her head where she'd been hit. "You just seemed sad about having an empty house, so I wanted to cheer you up!" she grumbled, well aware that he probably couldn't hear her.

After a few minutes of standing where she was, the girl trailed after the sound of Ace's footsteps until she found him in a hallway, a few doors on each side. The black haired man looked to her as she approached, and then returned to staring at the door he had placed himself at. One hand was in his pocket while the other rested hesitantly on the doorknob.

Mouda opened her mouth to try and say something, cutting herself as Ace abruptly twisted his wrist and jerked the door open.

"You can stay in this room" he told her, sounding uncertain somehow. "Though it's a bit dusty"

"That's…okay…" she murmured, leaning to the side to peek at the interior of the room. It was fairly large- maybe the largest room in the house. The master bedroom, then? With just a glance, the country girl could tell it hadn't been touched in years. The bed was neatly made and not a single pillow was out of place. A window to the side had the curtains drawn over it, blocking out the light.

Just how long has it been, she wondered, since someone set foot in this room?

Mouda carefully stepped forward, urging her toe to make contact with the dust-coated floor. It was a strange notion, but somehow, the girl couldn't help but feel that interrupting the unclean area with a footprint would be worse than letting the dust pile even higher.

When both of her feet had settled inside the room, the girl let out a breathless sigh and set her leather bag down on the foot of the bed. She stared at the unwrinkled blanket with concern, lifting her bag back up again.

The blonde whipped her head towards Ace, smiling half-heartedly. "I-it's a nice room!" she stammered.

Ace was already making his way back they way he had come. Mouda watched in turmoil as the man's backside rapidly disappeared, and after a halting moment of inner struggle the country girl tossed her bag onto the bed and chased after him.

* * *

Party's Bar- it was easily recognized as the most popular establishment in Fuchsia. When Mouda and Ace entered the building, a pleasant type of loudness was in the air that made Mouda relax instinctively. Ace had been very tense since before they left his home, but even he seemed to unwind a little as they approached the bar.

A woman greeted them with a smile, a bandana tied around her head in a fashion that mirrored Mouda's old hairstyle. The difference between the two, however, was that this woman's hair was black and considerably longer than Mouda's, reaching her waist even as it was tied back in a loose ponytail.

"Ace!" the bartender chirped, setting down the mug she had been drying to turn her full attention on the young man before her. "My, what a pleasant surprise! You've grown into a fine young man after three years!"

"Thanks, Makino" Ace laughed, possibly a bit of embarrassment on his cheeks as he shared a grin with her. "So, how have you been?"

"Oh, I've been just wonderful. Business is going well, as always…"

The rest of their conversation faded from Mouda's ears as the blonde stared at the pair quietly from the sidelines. _Makino_, thought the girl. The bartender Ace mentioned that day I met him…I never thought I'd get to meet her. He said she's old enough to be his mom, but she's still so pretty…

The country girl wore a slight blush as she admired the older woman's features. She was snapped out of her revere when Makino's expression suddenly flew from happy to thrilled, the bell at the entrance jingling as a few old patrons stepped inside.

"Captain Shanks!" the woman's words concealed a disbelieving gasp. "Why, I can hardly believe my eyes! First Ace, and now you and your crew! Are their any more surprises I'll be having today?"

"Oh, I might have one or two for you yet" the redhead chuckled, sidling up beside Mouda. He then took a seat on an empty stool, his dark eyes roaming over the woman's figure in a way that country girl could only describe as appreciative. "You hair is longer"

"Of course it is! It's been ten years, captain" the bartender informed him merrily.

Mouda now found herself staring at Makino and the red haired man she was conversing with rather than Ace, the blush she had been wearing increasing tenfold.

What…what a nice atmosphere! The country girl thought dizzily. She had a suspicious feeling that she was grinning like an idiot, but her skin had gone numb so there was no easy way to confirm this.

Makino's gaze unexpectedly shifted from the pirate captain, her black eyes meeting with Mouda's blue ones. Caught off guard, the farm hand tried to slide behind Ace's back in hopes of hiding. It became clear that the black haired man wasn't going to allow it, clapping a hand down on her head to still her.

Suddenly pinned, Mouda wriggled her toes from inside her boots and shyly met eyes with the bartender.

"You're a new face, aren't you?" Makino giggled. "The captain's recruit?"

"N-no!" the blue eyed girl stuttered, the top of her head cooling off when Ace lifted his hand away. "Um…I'm…" peeking at the Whitebeard pirate, she failed in finding a proper description for herself. "A…dairy farmer"

"A dairy farmer?" the older woman echoed, sounding amused.

"She's a friend of mine" Ace explained while pulling up a stool. "And lives on a dairy farm"

"Oh, I understand now…" Makino directed a knowing look towards the blonde haired girl. "Can I get anything for you?"

Tapping her fingers on the counter nervously, Mouda managed to sit herself down. "Maybe…milk…" she mumbled, her face going scarlet when Shanks laughed.

The black haired woman smiled reassuringly. "Coming right up!"

In just a few seconds a glass of milk was set in front of her, the opaque liquid contrasting greatly with the translucent alcohol that filed the glasses of the other patrons.

"Another round over here, Makino!" someone hollered from one of the tables.

"Alright!" the bartender called back to them. "I'll be back in just a moment" she told the trio, stepping out from behind the bar with a bottle of whiskey in hand.

Mouda was drinking her milk quietly when a cat suddenly hopped onto the table where she sat, sniffing at her glass curiously. With a burst of giddiness Mouda reached for it, her fingers running across the feline's body. The cat let out a small mew and gave her fingertips a lick before hopping off the counter abruptly. The country girl followed the animal with her eyes before getting to her feet as well.

"I'm going to go play with the cat!" she let Ace know, trailing after the soft furred creature excitedly. "Kitty!" she cooed, stopping in front of it when the cat settled in one of the corners of the pub. It padded up to her, rubbing its head against one of her bared knees whilst letting out a string of purrs. Squealing, the farmer took the cat into her arms and hugged it to her chest gently. The animal lapped at her face with its rough tongue, making the blonde giggle at tickling sensation. "You're so cute!" she fawned, rubbing her face against its fur adoringly.

"Hey, boss! We're gonna drink everything on you!"

Out of reflex Mouda looked to where the voice had come from, cocking her head a little. Then she gasped in surprise as the cat in her arms became inexplicably heavy. Dropping the animal, Mouda was suddenly shocked to find her arms wrapped around the waist of a human man.

"Wha!" she exclaimed, jerking away. "What just happened?!"

"You mean you didn't know?" the man wondered, clearly amused with her lack of knowledge. "Oh well! Maybe I'll cuddle with you again later anyways. What form I'll be in depends on the mood, though!"

Mouda could only gape at the stranger as he walked away laughing. Several seconds passed by with her standing as still as a statue, trying to process what had just happened, but not really wanting to accept any of it. Finally she stumbled back to where Ace and Shanks were, sitting down in front of her milk mechanically. The girl stared at the half-empty glass with wide, glazed eyes as she replayed the events that had just come to pass inside her head.

"A…cat" she mumbled, lifting her hands to her temples. "It…it had been a cat, but then…!"

"S'matter with you?" Ace wanted to know.

Mouda turned her head towards him, staring at the man for a minute before looking back to her milk. "I…I feel like I lost something important, just now" she admitted woodenly.

Ace blinked. "What?"

"Is something wrong?" Makino wondered as she returned to her place behind the bar. "You suddenly look so depressed"

"There- there was a cat" the country girl explained haltingly. "But it wasn't actually a cat!" she continued, gripping her hair in shame. "So without realizing it, I…!" unable to say anymore, Mouda dropped her head onto the counter.

The bartender gave the girl a light pat on the head. "You know, that happened to me too!" she told her. "Don't let it bother you. He just likes to startle people"

"But!" Mouda lifted her head to look at Makino with revulsion. "But, but- his _tongue!_"

The black haired man beside her cleared his throat abruptly. "I'm sorry," he started. "What are we talking about?"

The girl opened and closed her mouth a few times, wondering if the long haired woman in front of them was going to say anything in her stead. Ashamed with knowing she had petted and hugged some strange man, it was enough to let Mouda's memory go blank for a second.

"It- it's not important!" she managed to sputter, grabbing her glass and gulping down the contents.

* * *

Mouda let out a faint sigh as she exited the steam filled bathroom, taking in the clear air as she padded through Ace's house.

She had left Party's Bar not long after the incident with cat-man, not having anything to do there other than watch Ace drink. Makino seemed happy to make conversation, but the country girl couldn't help but feel that she would have been more bothersome than fun. On top of that, the stomach-flipping event that had occurred in the tavern did little to compel her to stay,

She hadn't asked Ace if she was allowed to use his bathroom, but with an irresistible urge to clean herself, the girl hoped he didn't mind. Mouda spent well over an hour in the bathtub, letting her fingers become wrinkly as she waited for her stress to fade. Now the tub had been drained and her skin was mostly dry, beads of water dripping from her hair as she reached the room she was to be sleeping in.

Mouda stepped inside the room, dust clinging to her feet as she closed the door behind her. In a few short steps she reached the foot of the bed, untying her leather bag to dig through its contents. The girl let the towel fall from her body, deciding then and there that she would use the damp material to clean the floor once she had dressed herself. One of Shanks' crewmembers had given her a large, unused shirt to sleep in while she was on board their ship, the owner of the garment insisting she keep it for further use.

Finding the shirt at last, the blonde withdrew it from the bag and gave it a light shake.

She had water in her ears from her long time in the bathtub. She must have, because if she didn't then she would have been a lot quicker about covering herself. She would have heard the footsteps nearing her doorway and known to pull the shirt over her head as the doorknob started to twist.

But Mouda did not notice any of these warnings, and so she could do little more than freeze when the door suddenly opened.

For a moment they were at a standstill. Wet hair fell over her face as she remained unmoving, her head tilted towards the doorway where Ace was standing. Mouda felt his eyes race over her skin and she swallowed dryly, rattled. The girl opened her mouth, thinking of what could be said and fearing how she'd sound. Before any noise could pass through her lips, however, the pirate turned around and exited just as suddenly as he had entered, giving the door a hard slam. The force of it vibrated through the room and chased the blonde up through her toes, making her jump.

"_Fuck!_" she heard Ace swear from beyond the wood which separated them. "_What the hell, Mouda?! Lock your door, damn it!_"

"I'm sorry!" the farmer yelped, folding her arms against herself. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly to the sound of heavy, frustrated footfalls that drifted down the hall and out of her ears. Mouda stayed where she was for several minutes, water dripping from her hair to make a small puddle at her feet. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself tighter and let her nails bite into her skin.

"Why…am I the one apologizing…?"

* * *

Greetings, readers! I present to you the long awaited fifteenth chapter of ACGP! I'm sure you've realized by now that there will be no FAPV counterpart for chapter fourteen. The reason for this is mostly because I felt I was giving FAPV too much attention. I hadn't originally planned on doing an Ace perspective for so many events. I'm going to start to draw my focus back to ACGP more so I can try and move things along faster. Later in the storyline, however, I'll reach a point where I will only be adding chapters to FAPV and not ACGP, so you'll get quite a bit of Ace's viewpoint at that time.

Another important topic I need to address is the certain plot twist Oda has given us in the recent manga chapters. I apologize for any anime-only readers I may be spoiling right now, but _honestly_, what are you doing watching the anime and not reading the manga?! Anyways…when I had started writing this story, I was writing under the assumption that like Luffy, Dragon was Ace's father, Garp was his grandfather and they were real siblings. I had assumed they grew up in Fuchsia together and knew the same people. So of course, this story is rather non-canon now considering that all of these assumptions were wrong. I struggled with myself for some time trying to decide what to do- finally, I came to a decision. Instead of reworking the entire ending and editing some of the major scenes that have already been written and posted, I have decided to continue as is. I'll be taking you all on a trip down AU lane, where Ace's father is Dragon.

As for today's chapter- they've finally reached Fuchsia, I've gotten to bring in Makino at last, and Ace saw Mouda naked! Things are really starting to build up- the question is, what will happen when they can pile no higher? Look forward to the next installment of ACGP, as well as FAPV (which will be getting a chapter this time around).


	16. A Country Girl's Dilemma

A Country Girl's Dilemma

A sigh.

This was the only way Mouda could manage to express her weariness as she changed her position for the umpteenth time, trying to find a spot on the bed that she hadn't touched yet. She had been in doing this for hours, rolling and twisting up the sheets while begging for sleep to come.

She had opened the curtains and wiped away the dust that covered the floor, thus ridding the room of the awkward aura it had contained for what had likely been years. There shouldn't have been anything to keep her awake now. The girl wanted to sleep. Her mind wanted to sleep. Her body, however, did not share these sentiments. After being looked upon several hours earlier, Mouda found herself more aware of every motion she made, and for some reason it seemed her body wanted to twitch. It wanted to stretch and flex and curl, restless beyond belief.

Mouda had used a towel to clean the dust off the floor. It was the one she had used to dry herself off after taking a bath that evening. She had let it slide from her body oh so carelessly, not thinking about the whereabouts of the black haired pirate whose house she had been standing naked in.

He had walked in on her- doing nothing to alert her of his presence- and then promptly slammed the door shut. He had _yelled_ at her. The blonde froze the second he appeared in the doorway, something akin to fear grasping her when she felt Ace's gaze accompany the cold air touching her skin.

As the girl wrapped her arms around herself, something ugly splashed over her heart. It didn't take long for Mouda to identify the feeling as anger.

Throughout the night she repeated the scene in her mind, farmer's blood boiling each time Ace's voice shouted through her memory. He had no right to be mad at her, no right! She came to this conclusion by the end of each replay, kicking the blankets off her so she might get out of bed. Despite many attempts, however, Mouda had yet to plant her feet onto the floor. Once the blankets were shoved aside and the girl sat herself up, cool exhaustion would flow through her and she would let herself fall back onto the mattress, pulling the covers back up.

Mouda was so very mad, but underneath her rage the feeling of affection remained. She wanted to scream, but at the same time she found herself hugging her pillow for comfort. The room was so empty, the air was so quiet, and the girl wanted to see Ace far more than he deserved.

"This bed is too big" she mumbled, draping a hand over her eyes as morning light started to slip through the window.

* * *

It was still very early for the village of Fuchsia, so Mouda wasn't surprised to see that only a handful of people were out and about. Shortly after giving up on falling asleep the girl got out of bed, dressed herself and then stepped into the blue light of morning. After wandering past a number of houses and one or two citizens, she found herself at the harbor.

The country girl took a deep breath in hopes of getting rid of the hollowness in her gut that one always felt after a night without sleep. The salt air in her lungs did nothing to help, and she soon released it in the form of a sigh.

"Mouda-chan, was it?"

Looking to her left, the girl was surprised to see a woman approaching her. Her black hair was pulled back, a kerchief over her head. It was the bartender from before- Makino.

"G…good morning…" Mouda tried to blink away her weariness.

Makino smiled a little in the brightening light. "What brings you to the harbor so early in the morning?"

"…I couldn't sleep" the farm hand said after some thought.

"Oh?" the black haired woman looked concerned even though she hardly knew her. "Why not?"

"I was…upset, so…" Mouda looked away, staring out at the sparkling ocean.

It took the girl a few minutes to realize that her gaze had taken on the form of a glare, and that the bar maid was still looking more concerned than she should over an acquaintance's troubles.

"Why are you here, Makino-san?" the blonde quickly asked, deciding that changing the subject was for the best.

"I like to come here in the morning to watch the water" Makino explained effortlessly, looking towards the sea like Mouda had done moments ago. "Today I only came out of habit, though…!" the woman trailed off with a giggle.

Habit? The statement piqued her interest, but as just Mouda started to tilt her head in a thoughtful direction, Makino turned to leave.

"You're going?" the girl wondered, surprising herself when her feet followed after the bartender.

"Getting ready to open takes a bit of time, so I always need to arrive at work early" Makino told the girl trailing after her. Pausing in her footsteps, the woman's smile became broader as she looked back over her shoulder.

"Would you be interested in helping me out, Mouda-chan?"

She had zero experience, but Mouda promptly accepted Makino's offer upon seeing a chance to distract herself.

Shortly after the pair arrived at Party's Bar, Makino started by giving the girl a list of what she might be doing over the course of the day- things like sweeping the floor, wiping down counters, taking food and drinks to customers...nothing very difficult, it sounded like. While Mouda might have felt just a little nervous after thoughtlessly agreeing to help, knowing that most of what Makino might ask of her were things the blonde could do put her at ease.

"Don't hesitate to take a break if you need one, Mouda-chan" Makino told her as she began removing the stools from the bar counter. "I know you didn't sleep well, so I'd feel terrible if you overworked yourself helping me"

"O…okay….!" Mouda mimicked the woman's actions, lifting the chairs off a nearby table and setting them gently onto the floor.

She repeated this process with the rest of the tables as well, and just as she was pushing the last chair into alignment with its respective table she noticed Makino standing behind her. The country girl turned her head towards the woman curiously, her hands grasping the chair's frame in doubt. Was she doing something wrong? Makino was smiling brightly, though, so Mouda didn't want to think this was the case.

The bartender held something out to her, drawing the farmer's blue eyes downwards. In Makino's hands was a bandana and hair tie, both of which were pink in color.

"Use these to keep your hair back" the woman said as Mouda accepted the presented items.

The girl quickly fitted the material onto her head, gathering up the ends of her hair and wrapping the hair tie around the tresses enough times to make sure they would be held in place. Preparations resumed and Makino went on explain various things, her trainee patting the pink atop her head several times before the bartender went to flip the sign that hung in the front window.

_My old hairstyle… _

Mouda touched the cloth covering her platinum hair once more, a little smile on her face.

* * *

"Well isn't this a surprise!" Shanks arrived with his crew, and said this when he spotted the blonde girl sweeping a corner of the floor. "Mouda-chan is helping out today?"

"She looked like she needed something to keep her busy, so I put her to work!" Makino explained cheerfully as the red haired man took a seat on one of the bar stools.

"Is that so?"

The two adults shared a laugh with each other. Mouda used her broom to push some more dirt into the pile accumulating near her feet, peeking at the pair through her bangs.

There was an atmosphere around the two of them that the country girl liked. They were a pirate captain and a bar maid, and they were speaking to each other with such fondness and ease that she couldn't help but think of them as more than just customer and server. Their interactions also held a degree of politeness, or maybe formality. Respect. They enjoyed each other's company and respected one another. Whether they were lovers or simply friends was undecided, but Mouda _had_ decided one thing.

Makino looked so happy talking with Shanks, and he with her.

Mouda decided that jealousy was not a pleasant feeling.

In the midst of her thoughts the girl heard her name being called and quickly lifted the gold veil from her eyes to search for the one that was asking for her. She spotted a few vaguely familiar pirates seated at one of the tables, Yasopp among them. The sharpshooter had raised his hand and was gesturing for her to come closer.

Resting her broom against the nearest wall, the blonde did as Yasopp's hand-motions requested and went over to where he and his crewmates were sitting.

"You're lending a hand today, Mouda?" the man asked when she neared, pointing his mug of ale at her as though prompting an answer.

"Makino-san asked if I wanted to…I didn't have anything else to do, and I thought it might be okay…" Mouda folded and unfolded her hands behind her back. Was working here really so interesting? First the captain, now his sharpshooter…

Yasopp raised a brow. "Tired of gun practice already?" he wondered, taking a swig of his drink.

She hadn't forgotten about learning how to use a gun, no matter what Ace thought of the idea. The Whitebeard pirate had confiscated the pistol she had been using some time ago, but acquiring a new one from her teacher or one of Shanks' other crewmembers probably wouldn't have been too hard. Still, it was true that Mouda preferred helping Makino to using a gun in town.

The country girl gave her head an earnest shake. "Not at all, Yasopp -san! I really would like to keep practicing, but it's just…" she rubbed the back of her head. "Well, firearms are really noisy, aren't they? Tahaha!"

Rather than laughing along with her, the dreadlocked man gave Mouda a blank stare. "Of course their noisy" he replied, his voice somewhat disappointed in tone. "The gunpowder is ignited when you pull the trigger, and the expanding gases are what propel the bullet forward- basically, a miniature explosion. It's obvious that this would be noisy. Now, there are tools you can use to silence the sound of a gunshot, but those things are more suited for a bounty hunter's line of work"

Mouda blinked a few times during this detailed reply. Yasopp had misunderstood her, or perhaps just hadn't caught onto what she had been implying when bringing up the sound of gunfire. Rubbing the back of her head some more, the country girl tried to put her thoughts into words.

"Well, it's not so much the noise that bothers me" she started. "I think that…um, wouldn't the townsfolk be bothered by it, though? They would probably get scared, actually! I'd hate to cause a ruckus over practice, is what I meant…"

Mouda lowered her head, shuffling her feet for a moment before looking at the man again. Both of Yasopp's brows had been raised this time, making the sharpshooter wide-eyed and surprised looking. The surprise soon faded and was replaced with a humorous grin. It seemed that her explanation had been adequate.

"You're_ awfully_ considerate" he chuckled.

The blonde smiled weakly as embarrassment covered her cheeks. "Taha…" unable to think of a real response, she shuffled her feet some more.

Just Yasopp looked like he was going to continue their conversation, his attention was drawn to the front entrance. The doors swung open as a new customer entered, making several people glance towards them in curiosity. Mouda was one of these people, and sucked in a panicky breath of air when she saw that it was Ace walking past the threshold.

Ignoring the dull cracking sound her neck made when she whipped her head back towards Yasopp, the girl scrambled for a sentence. "I- I'm going to get back to sweeping!" she sputtered.

Yasopp gave the farm hand a questioning stare as she fled. "…Alright"

Mouda left the table in an incredibly swift fashion, her stiff legs carrying away her as quickly as she could manage while her speed-walking was still walking and not running. Snatching up her broom, the smooth wood squeaked against her skin as she clenched her hands tight. The girl glared at the dirt on the floor in fake concentration, her sweeping motions unsmooth.

The bar was teeming with people despite the fact that it wasn't even lunchtime yet. Most of Makino's customers were from Shank's crew, but there were a few civilians amongst the cheery Red Haired pirates. Utensils were clattering on plates and mugs were being slammed onto counters after having their contents drained. Everyone was talking and laughing. It was loud- it was excitingly loud, but all Mouda could hear was the sound of footsteps approaching her. They were heavy, which implied the one drawing closer was wearing boots or some other sort of sturdy footwear. With each footfall the girl's heart beat faster, her dread grew stronger and the anger inside her rose closer to the surface.

"…Mouda"

The country girl gripped her broomstick fiercely. It was his voice. Ace's voice. He was saying her name, and probably standing right behind her, but she wasn't going to answer him.

"Hey, Mouda…!"

She wouldn't answer. She _absolutely would not_. He was always brushing her off, even when she was telling him her feelings…

Mouda felt a hand settle on her shoulder. Warmth flowed through her body from where Ace's palm and fingers now rested, making the girl's conviction weak- and maybe her knees as well.

With the man pulling lightly on her upper half, she reluctantly turned to face him. The girl wasn't looking at him because she wanted to. Mouda made sure this was very clear to Ace, with whom she was now making eye contact. While his expression was a cloud of many thoughts and emotions, Mouda's ire was painted clear across her face.

"_What?_"

Inwardly, the farm hand was surprised at how she spat the word out. Ace appeared to be taken back by it as well, lifting his hand off her shoulder. He seemed determined to do something, though, and with a furrowed brow Ace grasped her again, only this time his fingers curled around her arm instead of her shoulder.

"Mouda, listen" the pirate started, his eyes flickering strangely. "I want to talk to you-" he wasn't quite looking at her, and Mouda wasn't sure why. "I…want to apologize…about last night"

The country girl stared up at him for a minute or so, thoughtfulness hidden behind the glare she wore. He was apologizing. This was supposed to be a good thing, but he wasn't looking her in the eye, and the quiet voice he was using to speak to her seemed to grate on her ears.

In an attempt to relieve herself of what now felt like needless anger Mouda crossed her arms over her chest, pulling herself from Ace's grip in the process. "What _about_ last night?" she demanded.

"Uh…" the Whitebeard pirate looked like he was at a loss. "That's…" the hand he had used to take hold of her was still hovering in the air, almost as if he planned on grasping the answer with it. "For…for walking in on you…and also for yelling at you…"

Was he nervous? Embarrassed? Guilty? Whatever the reason, something was strange.

Ace should have known what he was apologizing for and Mouda should have been satisfied with his apology, because despite his hesitance, those _were_ the things she was angry about. She was angry at him for walking in on her. She was angry at him for yelling at her. He had apologized, and that should have been that. Nothing had changed, though- her chest was still hot with rage.

Suddenly, a chill of uncertainty crept up Mouda's back. "…Fine"

Even if she was accepting his apology, the fact that she was forcing herself to do so clearly didn't sit right with Ace. "Fine?" he echoed incredulously. "What do you mean, _fine?_"

A fresh stab of anger burned through the doubt Mouda was feeling. "I mean, its fine!" she huffed, turning away from him so that she could grab her broom and maybe go to some other part of the bar- preferably somewhere far from where she and Ace were standing now.

"It's _not_ fine, Mou-" Ace followed the blonde when she tried to stalk off. "You're still mad"

Mouda attempted to strangle the broom in her grasp. "Yes, I _am_ still mad!"

"So tell me why"

"_Why?_" the country girl whirled on him, inadvertently whipping the handle of her broom at Ace's head the process. "You want to know why I'm still mad?"

Ace was completely unfazed by the broomstick he had narrowly avoided and came to a halt directly after Mouda had. "I do, obviously!"

"Well, I-" now it was Mouda's turn to be at a loss for words. "I…!"

Why _was_ she still mad? She had thought her anger had stemmed from the events of last night, but Ace had already apologized, so there was no real reason for her to be mad. If someone told her they were sorry, Mouda forgave them- that was the sort of girl she was. At least, that was the sort of girl she _thought_ she was…

"I don't…"

The pair had come to a standstill in front of the bar counter, giving Makino a chance to approach them from the other side. Several customers were looking in their direction in both curiosity and annoyance- curiosity over what the argument was about and annoyance over the fact that they were arguing at all. But, neither Mouda nor Ace had noticed this yet.

"Hey, you two…" Makino waited until both of them had their attention directed towards her. "Could you please not fight? You're bothering others…"

Mouda blinked a few times while the bartender's words sunk in, her blue eyes going wide as mortification dyed her face scarlet. She didn't dare look at Ace at that moment, but she heard him mumble something to the woman. "I'm sorry, Makino-san…!" the blonde squeaked. She had agreed to help out, but she ended up causing trouble instead.

The bickering between Ace and herself no longer seemed justified in her mind- it was _childish_.

In light of this revelation, Makino didn't seem upset at all. Weaving her fingers together, the bartender rested her chin atop the intertwined digits and gave the two standing in front of her a humorous smile. "Let's not worry about it anymore, okay?"

Mouda bobbled her head mindlessly at the suggestion, but to not worry seemed impossible.

"Good!" Makino chirped, either not noticing or not minding the blonde's weak agreement. "Now, Mouda-chan, there was something I wanted your help with in the back. How about we go take care of it now?"

The dairy farmer tilted her head to the side a little, and was piecing together her reply when Ace decided to speak again.

"Mouda and I haven't finished talking yet, Makino" said the black haired man.

The bartender smiled again, giving her head a small shake. "Oh, Ace. Even if you did keep pestering my helper, it wouldn't make a difference"

"Hah?"

"Don't you know?" Makino's grin turned playful. "In a fight, the girl is always the winner!"

"What! Don't give me that-"

"If you're not here to order anything," the woman interrupted, "then I'll have to ask you to leave!"

Mouda glanced at Ace's frame from the corner of her eye, holding her breath as she did so. At first it looked like he was going to hold his ground, but once the bar maid started doing a shooing motion with her hand the young man gave up. Ace heaved a heavy sigh and turned to leave, scratching his head as he went.

For a minute or so the two females were both quiet. Then Mouda realized she was still holding her breath and released it as a sigh of her own, her cheeks flushing as she evened out her breathing. Makino laughed a little at this, unweaving her fingers before standing up straight.

"Are you ready to help me in the back now, Mouda-chan?" the black haired woman wondered.

"Ah…" Mouda thought about this for a second before pointing towards the dirt she had swept up. "Actually Makino-san, I still need to clean up the floor-"

"Just leave that there for now" the bartender said with a casual wave of her hand.

"Eh? But the dirt is just sitting-"

"Just leave it!"

At Makino's insistence the platinum blonde followed her to the back area, where it looked like most of the stock was kept. Wondering what it was that she needed to help the woman with, Mouda watched curiously as the dark haired bar maid took a seat on one of the many crates resting on the floor.

"Come sit over here" she instructed, patting the crate beside her.

Mouda stared at the crate she was being told to sit on. She then stared at the young woman who was seated on the crate beside it. Her sunny smile was suddenly very frightening to the country girl.

"Y…you actually _are _mad!" Mouda blurted.

At the girl's accusation Makino's smile dropped from her face, making the woman look very serious. She was silent for several unnerving seconds… and then burst out laughing.

"Ahahaha!" the bartender covered her mouth, though it did little to muffle the amused noises she was making. "Pfftaha!"

Mouda shrank a little in response to the woman's laughter. "W-what?" she tried. "What's so funny?"

Makino caught her breath at last, swallowing several gulps of air before explaining herself. "I'm not mad!" she insisted. "I was going to talk to you about Ace!"

At the mention of his name, the blonde girl felt both anger and affection flare inside her chest. "We're talking about…Ace?" she rephrased the woman's words, not of what she thought about the subject.

Again, the bartender gestured for the girl to take a seat beside her. "Let's talk, okay?"

Makino looked happy and concerned at the same time- it reminded Mouda of the expression the woman had been wearing when they had spoken at the harbor that morning. Biting her lip, the girl made her way over to where the bar maid was and set herself down on the neighboring crate.

Things were quiet for a moment. Hesitantly Mouda looked at Makino. The woman tilted her head to the side a little as if to say, where would you like to begin? The farmer repeated this unspoken question in her head several times before making her decision.

"He saw me naked"

The bartender seemed surprised with the blunt way in which Mouda started speaking, but she did not interrupt. Instead, she let the blonde continue.

"It was an accident- I was getting changed, and he walked in without knocking. Then he got angry at me…and I thought that was stupid. It made _me_ angry. I got so angry that I couldn't sleep. Just now he was trying to apologize, but for some reason I'm still…" the girl sighed a little. "I'm still mad, even though I wish I wasn't"

"Hmm…" Makino, rested her cheek in a palm. "You like Ace, don't you?"

Had she not been feeling so exhausted, Mouda might have blushed. Instead, she simply nodded.

"Then having him see you naked isn't a bad thing, is it?"

The girl gave her a wide-eyed stare, and this time, she did blush. "P…pardon?"

The woman chuckled at this reaction. "Well, let's set that idea aside for now. Instead…" she raised her index finger thoughtfully. "Why do you think Ace was angry with you?"

Her mind was still clinging to the previous question, but Mouda tried to ignore it. "I don't know" she muttered. "I could have locked the door, but before that, he should have knocked"

"That's true" Makino agreed. "But he did apologize, didn't he?"

"He did"

"So…" the woman gave her a knowing look. "Isn't there more to it than that?"

"More to it?" Mouda repeated confusedly. "I don't really…" the girl trailed off in thought.

What else was there for her to be mad about? Last night, Ace hadn't done anything else to make her mad…

Come to think of it, though, hadn't this happened to her before? The man had been angry with her on more than one occasion, and for little to no reason as far as she could see. He acted like she was the one at fault, even when she was just trying to help him.

Even when she was just trying to express her love for him, Ace refused to see it as such.

Mouda's eyes flooded.

"It's more than just liking" the girl murmured, her voice airy. "I…_love_ Ace…but no matter what I do, he never acknowledges my feelings. He won't accept them…he won't even reject them…!" her face crumpled. "I hate it!"

Through her tears Mouda could see Makino peering at her with care. The girl sniffled and sighed, wiping the wetness from her cheeks as she tried to calm herself. There was no reason to burden the woman with her worries like this.

Mouda put on a wobbly smile for her confidante. "I'm okay, though" she breathed. "Talking with you has made me feel a lot better"

No- after realizing the true origin of her discontent, the girl found that she felt even worse. This wasn't something that a simple apology could fix. Maybe it was through some kind of intuition, or maybe past experience, but Makino seemed to know this all too well.

The bartender got to her feet and gave Mouda a half-smile. "No, it hasn't. You're never going to feel better until you have a proper talk, and get a proper response to your feelings" Makino sighed.

The country girl looked at her feet hopelessly. "I know" she admitted. "But…Ace won't…"

"What you need to do is get Ace into a situation where he has to sit and listen" the woman told her while bending down to eye-level. "And I happen to know a great way to do that"

Slowly, Mouda drew her eyes back to Makino.

* * *

Time felt like it had been passing slowly, but even so, it was already one o'clock. The day had reached its hottest point and the fans hanging from the ceiling of Party's Bar were spinning as best they could. But this did nothing to help Mouda, because she was on the outer side of the building, cleaning the windows.

"Haaa…" Mouda sighed wearily as she ran a wet rag across the glass. "So hot…!" she complained.

The reason why she was cleaning outside was because she was waiting for Ace to show up. They needed to have an encounter outdoors, per Makino's instruction. The girl was starting to wonder if he even planned on stopping by again, though. There was a chance that the pirate had given up on talking. Mouda sincerely hoped that this wasn't the case, but…

The blonde stared at the interior of Party's Bar through the window, a longing expression on her face. It was probably nice and cool in there. Shanks and a few of his crewmembers were waving at her to come inside, but the country girl just wagged her head sadly and continued cleaning.

Mouda grimaced while dipping her cloth into the bucket of soapy water she had taken outside with her. Hot water was used when cleaning, so sticking her hands into the mixture only made her feel worse.

"I'm gonna die!" she whined.

"Is cleaning windows really that hard?" asked a voice from behind.

After getting so caught up in her thoughts about the heat, Mouda had nearly forgotten why she was enduring it in the first place. The girl's hand came to rest on the windowpane as she looked back over her shoulder. Standing atop a chair, she and Ace were almost eye-to-eye with each other.

"I only said that because it's so hot out" she grumbled.

Ace put his hands in his pockets. "Is it?"

He probably didn't suffer from the heat like others did, being made of fire, so that was why he could question her reasoning so easily. It wasn't the time to be envying his constitution, though. Dropping her rag into the water bucket, Mouda hopped down from where she stood and started to distance herself from the pirate.

"Hey- wait a second!"

The girl increased her pace after hearing his request, and Ace started to walk after her. "Would you let me apologize already?" he demanded.

She glanced back at him for a split-second before whipping her head straight again. Swallowing a few gulps of air, Mouda broke into a run.

"Wha- get back here, damn it!" she hear the man shout.

"_If you head westward from Party's Bar, you'll reach the seashore"_

"_Have Ace to follow you there"_

Hastily, Mouda looked to make sure Ace was still in pursuit. A surprised noise fell out of her mouth when she saw that not only was he still after her, he was also dangerously close to catching up. The girl forced herself to run faster, making sweat slide across her skin. The pink kerchief covering her head protected the blonde's scalp from the beating sun, but nothing could save her from the fire that burned at her legs and lungs.

At last they arrived at the beach. She raced towards the shoreline, kicking up hot sand with her boots. It would have been fun to have him chase her around at the seaside like this had the circumstances been different. This wasn't s playful game of tag, though- Mouda was running desperately, her hopes pinned on the notion that Makino's plan would succeed. As for Ace, he was running after her so he could give the girl an apology she had already heard.

Mist sprayed through the air when her feet hit the ocean, water splashing against the leather boots she wore. Mouda kept going, soaking her ankles and then her calves. A few more steps and the waves were rushing up against the girl's knees to lick the hem of her skirt.

"What are you _doing?" _Ace's voice sounded through the air. "Come back!"

The blonde turned back to face him and felt anxiety stir within her when she saw that the man had stilled himself at the water's edge, a wary expression on his face.

"_Since he's eaten a devil fruit, the water drains him of his strength. Luring him in deep enough will be the hardest part"_

"You can't go in any deeper" Ace warned her. "There are sea kings in this water. You'll get eaten"

The threat came as a surprise to the girl, for she honestly hadn't known about the sea kings. Hesitation seized her, the endless ocean reflecting in Mouda's eyes as she stared out at the waters silently.

If I go in any further…he'll come in after me, won't he?

There was no guarantee, but the country girl couldn't let her efforts go to waste now- not after she had been so hopeful. Biting back her doubts, Mouda forced her legs into motion one more.

"I'm serious, Mouda! Stop!"

Ignoring his heed, the girl continued to tread deeper, her muscles tightening responsively to the cold traveling up her body. Mouda shuddered as her stomach was chilled, tears coming to her eyes.

Maybe…I'll get eaten after all?

And just when she wasn't expecting it anymore, the sound of crashing water came from behind. Ace had finally resumed his chase. The man was forcing his way through the water with every step he managed to take, coming dangerously close to falling in entirely as he rushed to catch up with her.

Unable to force down her smile, the blonde submerged all but her head. Ace could cut through the water faster than her because he was bigger and stronger, but as an average, everyday farmer, Mouda had the advantage of being able to swim.

A dog paddle was all she could really manage, but it put more than enough distance between them.

The splashing came to a halt almost as abruptly as it had began. The girl turned herself around, her arms and legs moving rhythmically beneath the surface of the water. Ace was up to his waist, and clearly intended to go no further. He looked tired- _drained_, not just physically, but mentally as well. Although he was maintaining his balance, it couldn't have been easy for him.

Mouda felt the sting of guilt as Ace reached towards her weakly. "Please come back to shore" he urged. "I really am sorry, so please…!"

With the waves pushing her forward the girl paddled closer to him. As she was carefully raising a hand out of out of the water, she thought that it even though nothing was resolved, might be okay to just return to the shore with him.

The pirate squeezed Mouda's hand tightly, water rushing around her as he started to pull the girl in. Her second thoughts were washed away, allowing the blonde to dig her heels into the sand. There was only a brief pause before she kicked off, so even if Ace realized what she was doing, there was no time to avoid being dragged along when Mouda threw herself backwards.

Salt water enveloped them. It was a familiar situation- they had crashed into the sea together once before, but back then Mouda had been desperately working her way to the surface with Ace's motionless body. Now she was doing the exact opposite by pulling him in deeper.

After kicking along for a few seconds Mouda allowed herself to resurface, her hand latching onto the man's wrist to ensure that he went with her. Her head broke through the water in the exact spot she had been aiming for, her feet just touching the bottom. Ace would have only been up to his chest at most while on his feet, but he lacked the ability to stand upright. Instead, Mouda arranged his body so that he was propped against her somewhat, wrapping her arms around his upper torso before pulling him up for air.

"You're trying to kill me!" Ace sputtered once his head was out of the water, the pirate's arms hooked limply around her shoulders. "Does seeing you naked really warrant this much hate?"

Mouda felt her cheeks grow hot. Maybe it was because Ace's body was pressed up against hers. Maybe it was because his face- red from being forced to hold his breath- was only inches away. The heat on her skin might have been because of what she was about to say, or because of the tears that would inevitably come of it.

"I…want you to see"

Ace seemed to doubt his hearing, and gave his head a shake to clear his ears. "Uh…what?"

The girl stared at the droplets of water falling from her hair as she worked up the courage to clarify herself. "_I want you to see me naked!_" she blurted, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so.

The exclamation echoed through the air, making her body shiver despite having gotten used to the water long ago. Inside the girl's chest her heart was racing wildly, almost dangerously as she tried to ignore the man that was practically draped over her. Just knowing that he was going to react to her words made her embarrassed to an excruciating degree- never mind what _kind _of reaction it ended up being.

Not even after her first confession had Mouda felt this wound up.

The difference between a teenage girl like herself and the mature woman she was not had suddenly become clear. Telling Ace 'I love you' and expressing those innocent feelings came naturally, but announcing that she had an adult, sexual interest in him was absolutely_ unbearable_.

Things were quiet for a long time. The sound of the waves and cawing of seagulls were tuned out but the white noise that had come to occupy the country girl's mind, and her thoughts were slave to the task of figuring out how to reopen her eyes. Even when her eyelids finally managed to part, it took just as long for Mouda to drag her gaze away from the rippling water.

She didn't know what to make of Ace's expression at first. His eyes were huge and his jaw had gone slack. It was like he was shocked or horrified, or just incredibly stupid. Mouda figured that she must have been wearing the exact same face.

The pirate closed his mouth, only to open it again. "You-"

"_Aah!_" all of a sudden the blonde felt it necessary to talk. "Um- I- I want you to look at me! I want you to notice me! Being seen naked-" she chocked on her words a little. "I really do love you, Ace, so being seen naked doesn't make me mad! R-rather than that, I should be happy about it! "

Like a child about to be scolded, Mouda realized she was trying to make an excuse for her feelings. Like there was something wrong with wanting these things. The teenager's face reddened. It's not…_wrong_, she thought, but…still very embarrassing.

"I'm not upset with you for walking in on me last night" she explained, her words much calmer now. "But I was upset when you yelled at me- and it's the same for every time you get angry with me or brush me aside, or just ignore what I'm trying to say…!"

"I…" although the water had diminished his energy, Ace managed to bow his head. "I'm sorry"

"You're the worst!" the girl persisted.

"I know"

Mouda's hands gripped him tightly. "I'm clearly telling you my feelings, so tell me yours clearly too!"

Courage spent, the girl nibbled on her lip in defeat. "Not right now…" she mumbled. "But if…" the girl's voice became even fainter. "If you could just think about rejecting me sometime soon, then…" her chin grazed the water. "…I would be happy just for that…"

Ace raise his head as she trailed off, keeping the silence for a moment before trying to speak. "No, I-"

The second the word 'no' had fallen from his mouth Mouda released her hold. The girl watched Ace sink with a distressed gurgle, annoyance playing across her otherwise somber features. After waiting for about eight seconds or so she hooked her arms under his, pulling the man back up. With his lungs flooded and mouth full, Ace spat out a stream of salty water that hit her right in the face.

Mouda narrowed her eyes, not because he had just spat at her, but because it was difficult to see with salt in them.

Ace must have seen her glaring expression and thought she was going to let go again, because after hacking a few times to get the rest of the water from his lungs looked away from her uneasily.

"I-" the young man paused. "I'll think about it" he finished carefully, not looking back to her even as she smiled.

"…Thank you"

For now, it was the end of their discussion, and the two began making their way back to shore.

Mouda walked backwards through the water, pulling Ace along by his hands as though he were a child. He put a stop to as soon as he was able to, and Mouda put her improved mood to use by hopping over the waves while Ace tried to nurse his pride by walking the rest of the way.

"I can see you underwear" the Whitebeard pirate said suddenly.

Mouda's eyes darted to the skirt that had plastered itself to her thighs. White in color, her black material beneath was clearly visible. The girl smiled out of embarrassment at first, but then more honestly, spinning to face him with a full grin. "I don't mind!"

She went straight to his house to change, though.

* * *

Was anyone else as happy as I was to see Makino so much during the Luffy flashback? She was definitely smiling at Ace because he was talking about Shanks. Yep, that's the reason!

But enough about Shakino.

And so I bring you the sixteenth chapter! It's my longest ACGP installment to date- nearly 7000 words!

We had a lot of relationship development this time around. The scenes I had planned out ended up being a lot longer than I had first imagined them to be, purely because I felt that things would be happening on fast-forward otherwise. These important kinds of things…I prefer to take care of them nice and slowly, so making it the focus of just one chapter was new to me. I probably could have split this into two chapters, but I wanted chapter seventeen to be something else in order to keep up with my mental timeline.

I really am sorry about the wait. I guess the manga had put me in a slump with all the depressing events. I'm going to have to ignore all the character development Ace had as a child, since my story is AU in that Dragon was his father and not Roger, so his past would have been totally different…and we all know how much I hate ignoring canon! It makes me want to take a cheese grater to my brain. That's how much I hate it. But I have to do it for the sake of my story! Otherwise it won't work out the way I had planned it _AT ALL!_

Or it at least wouldn't work out so neatly.

As usual, if you have any questions, complaints or words of praise then feel free to tell me in a review or PM! Also, I hope everyone's looking forward to the upcoming chapter of both ACGP and FAPV! It's gonna be fun~


	17. A Country Girl's Doubt

A Country Girl's Doubt

The colors of morning filled the room, spilling in through the window and falling across the figure of a sleeping country girl. The brightening world seeped through Mouda's eyelids slowly, easing the blonde from her slumber. Blue eyes flittering open, she gave a small stretch beneath her covers and then sat up, a dazed smile on her face as she stared at nothing.

"...I slept well"

Mouda left the bed with a cheerful hop and strode towards the doorway. The large shirt she wore flowed with her vigorous motions, brushing against her legs as she skipped down the hallway and into the kitchen. She stopped almost immediately, one foot still in the air as she stared at the black haired man who sat at the table with his head in his hands. Trapped beneath his elbows was an open newspaper.

The blonde regained proper footing. "...Ace?" she called to him uncertainly. "Is something wrong?"

Sighing wordlessly, Ace pulled a hand from his hair and used it to slide the newspaper across the table. Mouda caught it as it neared, picking up the slightly crumpled folds of paper to look over the various articles. Something about the news had upset him. At first the girl wasn't sure of what to look for, but then she saw it.

_Marshall D. Teach for Shichibukai._

"'After his successful capture of Fire Fist Ace, the world government offers Blackbeard the position of Shichibukai as the hunt for the recently escaped prisoner continues to raise questions concerning the reliability marine officers.'" the man quoted. "Last time it was me who was looking for a fight, and Blackbeard handed me to the marines when I lost. Now he'll be coming after me under the order of the world government, since people like Smoker won't live up to their expectations"

Mouda furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of his words. "You were so intent on finding him, even though he's already beaten you? And...I don't understand. If you're searching for him, won't it make things easier if he's doing the same?"

"I want to find him _because_ he already beat me" Ace told her. "I need to pay him back...and I won't be surprised by his abilities this time. I know how he'll come at me, so that puts us on even ground..." the pirate tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. "It's his new Shichibukai status that complicates things. When the world government is involved, there's always trouble..."

Mouda set the newspaper aside and walked around the kitchen table to where Ace was sitting, stopping just behind him. Leaning forward slightly, platinum hair brushed against the man's shoulders as the girl stared into his eyes with her blue ones.

"Pirates are supposed to be fearless" she reminded him, smiling. "So don't worry about it. I'll be doing that for you"

The troubled expression Ace had been wearing disappeared with a blink of his eyes. "Fearless, huh...?" a tentative grin spread across his features. "I guess I have no choice if you're going to worry so much"

Mouda moved away when Ace got to his feet, watching with silent curiosity as he grabbed the newspaper up off the kitchen table and crumpled it into a ball. The pirate looked back at her with a smirk and the girl's eyes widened when the paper burned a bright orange.

* * *

Like usual, Party's Bar was full of noise and cheer. Mouda couldn't stop herself from smiling when she entered the establishment, weaving her way through the arrangement of tables and chairs, some occupied and some empty. She reached the bar counter, scanning her blue eyes across the liquor bottles that lined the back wall for some glimpse of the bartender that was normally stationed there.

Makino was nowhere to be seen.

Blinking, Mouda stood where she was and thought of what to do with this revelation. She and Ace had gone separate ways when they left the house- he to the harbour to speak to someone about lending him a boat, and she to the bar in hopes of busying herself with work.

She couldn't offer Makino any help if the woman was not here, though. Turning on heel, Mouda scanned the area for a familiar face- Yasopp or the captain, maybe...

For a minute the girl was sure she would have no luck finding anyone she knew, but from the corner of her eye she spotted the first mate Ben Beckman seated in one of the far corners of the dining area. The man was not looking at her, but he seemed to notice the blonde's presence all the same when she approached him.

"Mouda" he spoke placidly. "Here to work again?"

The girl parted her lips, surprised. It was the first time the pirate had said her name, and without the belittling '_chan_' suffix she had imagined he would use. "I wanted to," she began slowly. "But I don't know where Makino-san is. Have you seen her?"

The grey haired man took a long drag of his cigarette, inhaling the smoke deeply before releasing it with a thoughtful puff. "I think she's in the storage room. Saw her head back there with the captain a minute ago"

"The storage room? I didn't think customers were allowed to go back there"

"Hmn..." the man's cigarette was snuffed out, having reached its end. "S'that so?"

The country girl furrowed her brow as she tried to see the meaning behind his questioning tone. Ben Beckman was a mysterious sort of person who seemed to speak only when necessary, and said things that were always just a little above her level of understanding. It made her a bit uncomfortable, but she didn't dislike him for it.

"Well...I'll go look for her there, then" she said finally, turning away. Before she forgot, though, the blonde looked back at him. "Thank you, Beckman-san"

The man waved her courtesies away with his hand, a fresh cigarette drawing lines of smoke in the air.

Not minding that, Mouda turned back around and headed towards the bar counter once more, this time slipping behind it instead of stopping at its edge. "Will the little blonde miss be tending the bar today?" one of the men asked of her.

The little blonde miss looked at who had spoken to her and felt her mouth twist in embarrassment. It was the cat. Or the one who was a cat, and then wasn't a cat. The man who liked to startle people, so Makino had said.

"No- I don't have any practice pouring drinks" Mouda answered, and felt the burning sensation on her face slide down into her gut. "But maybe you'd be happy if I spilt alcohol all over the floor, since you could lap it up afterward"

Oh, that had been _mean_. The country girl almost felt guilty for saying it, but before she could apologise the cat's men burst into laughter, as did the rest of the tavern. Even Ben Beckman appeared to be smirking behind the smoke of his cigarette and the shadows of the hand that held it. The cat man himself laughed good and loud at her remark, unusually sharp teeth flashing at her as he grinned.

Mouda wasn't very interested in waiting for their humour to fade, so she left them as they were and headed for the storage room. It could be found after walking through the door that stood on the server's side of the bar counter, down a narrow hallway and past the kitchen area. There was a corner that needed to be rounded, and then she would be in the room where she and Makino had their talk the day before, amidst the wooden crates.

When the corner was rounded, however, the country girl found herself unable to cross the threshold. Her blue eyes grew huge and her limbs stiffened, and try as she might, Mouda could not look away from the sight in front of her just yet.

"_The storage room? I didn't think customers were allowed to go back there"_

"_S'that so?"_

It was, Mouda had thought to say, but now she thought differently. It _was_ so, unless that customer was more than just a customer.

Makino was in the storage room, just as Ben had guessed she would be, and his captain was with her, just as he had said. Shanks' hand was tangled in the bartender's hair and her fingers griped the pirate's clothes tightly, and both of their eyes closed to the world. They were kissing, Mouda realized, just as the first mate had played at hinting to her in a questioning tone._  
_  
The blonde was certain she had made a noise for some reason, slapping a hand over her mouth as shock hammered through her. She couldn't have, though, for the pair did not look at her, or even break the contact of their mouths.

Mouda willed herself to move away, walking backwards as slowly and as quietly as she could manage. When they were out of sight the farmer spun on heel, turning her feather light steps into brisk footfalls that led her back to the serving area in less than a second. All the same people were there, along with one more. Her face must have been beet red, but the girl could do nothing about it as he waved her to him.

"Did you find Makino?" Ace asked when he met her on the opposite side of the counter. "Beckman said you were looking for her"

"I did. But she's- busy" Mouda managed.

"She'll be even busier if she doesn't hurry up" the Whitebeard pirate noted, but not with impatience. "Does she know she has people waiting to be served?"

"No- I- I mean yes!" the blonde changed lines clumsily. "She should be out in a minute..."

Kissing usually only lasted for a short while in the books, after all. It was always sex that was more time-consuming. Mouda accidentally met Ace's eyes as she thought this, and her face reddened all over again. "I can serve!" the girl blurted.

"I thought you didn't have any practice pouring drinks, little blonde miss?" the cat from earlier inquired, sitting at his table as a man.

"More for you" Mouda replied hurriedly, growing more flustered by the minute.

Her uneasiness didn't go unnoticed. "You alright?" Ace asked her, putting a hand to the girl's forehead.

She jerked at the man's touch and instantly felt bad for it. Ace withdrew, looking unhappy with her reaction. No, no! I don't mean anything by it, Ace! She wanted to tell him. My heart's just beating too fast right now- I can't stand anymore! I'll faint on the spot!

"I...what can I get for you?" that was what Makino asked the customers, with a sunny smile on her face. Mouda tried to smile, although she felt queasy with shock, and something strangely akin to giddiness.

"Milk"

The Whitebeard pirate ordered milk.

Mouda blinked, took a small breath of air, and felt her heart slow a few paces. His unusual request made her stop and think, which in turn cooled her baking head. "Milk?" she repeated it back to him, just to be sure.

"Milk is your specialty" Ace reminded her.

Blinking some more, the dairy farmer recalled that milk was indeed her specialty- although there was nothing special about serving someone milk. Mouda set a clean glass on the counter, found a bottle in the refrigerator compartment beneath the counter and then emptied the chilled white liquid into the cup as gracefully as she possibly could, which wasn't very. There were almost no bubbles, though, and not a drop had been spilt.

The black haired man picked up his glass for appraisal. "You could give Makino some tough competition" he told her jokingly, gulping down its contents.

When it came to things like beer and rum, Mouda knew it didn't really matter how it was poured- not for pirates like Ace or the cat and his men, but if it had been a finer drink, one would need to pour it with skill and finesse. The country girl wouldn't be able to do something like serve Ace sake. That was a bartender's job.

And then there was the bartender.

Makino looked as neat and tidy as ever, her long hair tied back in its usual ponytail, and a bandana resting firmly atop her head. Shanks followed her into view, carrying a wooden crate with his single arm as he laughed about how terrible she was to make her customers help with work, but he couldn't have minded. Mouda stared at them, her eyes narrowing instead of bulging like the first time. They didn't look any different than they did yesterday or the day before, she noticed. They didn't look they had just been kissing one another. They were hiding it? Why? There couldn't have been a good enough reason. Why hide it?

Or maybe there weren't hiding it at all. Maybe everyone already knew that they were together, because it was as plain as day, and it was only she who hadn't noticed- only she _had_ noticed. Mouda had noticed them together and noticed how friendly they were with each other, this bartender and her captain, but she hadn't made any real assumptions in fear of becoming bitter.

_If a bartender could be with her captain, couldn't a country girl be with her pirate?_

Mouda swallowed her jealousy whole. "I'm sorry" she said as the woman approached.

"Sorry? What for?" Makino gave the blonde one of her cheeriest smiles.

All too suddenly, Mouda's head was baking again. "Nothing" she squeaked, unable to even look at Shanks as he set his crate down on the counter.

"I want to talk to you" Ace spoke to the red haired man. "About the news"

He wants to talk about Blackbeard. Mouda knew it even as her mind was sizzling. So that was why he had come to the bar so soon. Somewhere between her queasy stomach and her burning ears, the country girl had been curious about that.

Shanks' mouth quirked. "So you've heard?"

"I would have heard a lot sooner if you bothered to keep any newspapers on your ship" the Whitebeard pirate muttered.

"_Well!_" the redhead huffed, pretending to be offended. "Forgive me for not keeping every piece of paper I come across!"

"No one told me"

"You asked no one"

The two men stared at each other for a time, and then Ace rose from his bar stood. "I'm asking you right now"

Shanks did not smile or joke at that. "Alright, then" he said, and then followed the younger pirate out of the tavern.

"I'd like you to pay for this" the bartender called after them, talking about the milk. Ace hastily said something about a treasure tab, which made the woman sigh, and by then the two men were out of sight.

Things were somber up until someone shouted for refills, and then Party's Bar was filled with noise and cheer renewed. Makino was quick to busy herself with the crowed, telling Mouda that she would just be a moment. She wasn't, though- Ace had been right about there being a lot of customers waiting on her. Never one to complain, Mouda rounded the counter and took a seat where Ace had been, staring at his emptied milk glass.

"You seem a bit frazzled, Mouda-chan" Makino said to her when she did finally return. "You didn't sleep well again?"

"Oh, no. I had a good sleep" the girl told her. It was true.

The bartender looked happy for that. "Then the talk with Ace went well, yesterday?"

Mouda had to think about her answer. _Had_ it gone well? She almost cried, and said embarrassing things. Ace definitely wasn't going to be thanking her for it any time soon, but... but he would answer her feelings soon, and that was what mattered.

"I think so. I asked him to think about rejecting me, and he promised that he would"

Makino was silent for a moment. The woman reached for the cup that sat in front of them as though to clean it, but stopped before her fingers touched it. "You didn't" she denied, as though only just hearing the words.

"I...did?" the blonde tried. "I needed to have a proper answer, so I asked him-"

"But not _that _answer...!" Makino's voice was full of disappointment. "You were supposed to have him tell you his feelings"

"Those _are_ his feelings" the girl admitted, speaking so bluntly that the woman in front of her seemed at a loss for words. "He doesn't love me, and he doesn't want me to love him..." she was still staring at his empty milk glass, and couldn't tear her eyes away from it.

"...But he hasn't told you anything yet, Mouda-chan. Why are you so sure?" the bartender was concerned now.

"'I don't think you love me, Mouda'" she repeated the words Ace had said her after her first confession. "_That's_ what he told me"

"So he didn't believe you- but Ace, he- he has reasons for that. Just like you have reasons. Why wouldn't he share your feelings?"

There were a dozen things she could have answered with- because she wasn't beautiful, she wasn't a pirate, wasn't strong, wasn't tall, wasn't smart, wasn't curvy, wasn't a _woman_, wasn't anything other than a country girl-

_If a bartender could be with her captain, couldn't a country girl be with her pirate?_

The question barged back into her thoughts like an unwelcome guest. "He just _wouldn't_" the girl insisted helplessly.

Makino crouched down so that their eyes met, a glass glazed with milk sitting between them. "You're hoping he'll reject you, but you _want_ him to love you, don't you? Even though you won't hope for it?"

_Couldn't a country girl be with her pirate?_

No, Mouda meant to say. I don't want that.

"I wanted to tell him my feelings" the blonde began, her voice quiet but steady. "That's all I wanted. I wanted him to know I loved him, and have him acknowledge that. But...but at some point, after spending so much time with him I..." she realized she was holding Ace's glass in her hands, shifting it around gently. "I must have started thinking that it would be nice if he..." Mouda's voice faded away for a moment. "...When I cut my skirts short and grew my hair, I had wanted to look more mature. I wanted him to take me seriously. Maybe I had wanted him to like me, too"

Makino was smiling again. "You're very likeable"

But Mouda frowned. "I asked Ace to reject me" she reminded the woman. "And he said he would think about it"

"Maybe after all of his thinking, Ace will decide to surprise you instead"

Makino left to fill the cups of a few patrons, her departing words putting an optimistic end to their conversation.

The blonde stayed where she was for a long time after that, staring at the glass in her hands and thinking about various things, like her shredded love letter. She thought about her pretty yellow dress and the romance novel she had read more than once, and her black underwear. She thought a lot about Ace. She thought about how his hair dried fluffily and how good he made her father's plain shirt look and how scarred his back was. She thought about the times she had slept beside him, with both occasions being different. His eyes came to mind, too- they were dark, sometimes angry or sometimes guilty, and once they had looked on her naked flesh in a manner that was almost frightening.

Mouda thought about Makino and Shanks kissing amidst the wooden crates in the storage room, and then about the time up on the deck of the captain's ship, when Ace had been drunk and apologizing to her. There had been sake bottles _everywhere_, and he was so _drunk_, because his breath had reeked and he felt right over when he tried to lean so close to her...

The country girl pressed her lips against the rim of the cup she held, tasting milk and glass, and thought about that too.

* * *

Edited Author's Note as of 7/1/2012: Hi all! I was recently asked by an anonymous reviewer whether or not this story had been discontinued, and decided that I should post a few things here for everyone to read.

First and foremost, no, this story hasn't been discontinued. I'm just feeling a little uninspired lately, not to mention the fact that I've recently graduated from college and _NEED TO FIND A JOOOOB_ so I'm kind of freaking out about in the meantime. I have absolutely no plans to discontinue this story, but if I _did_ decide to do so I would send out notification messages to all of those who have been kind enough to put ACGP/FAPV on their favorite/alert lists, followed by the removal of the story itself. Although that won't be happening, as far as I know.

Second on the agenda, anonymous reviewers! I love you guys just as much as the signed folk, but how many times have I said to not ask me questions unless your going to leave me your email in a **MyEmailAtMailhostDotCom** fashion! I can't reply to your questions without a means of contacting you, you know! This forces me to reply in my A/Ns like so, which I can't help but feel is troublesome for the both of us! Siiiigh...

Finally, if people are curious about what I'm up to, how my stories are going or whether I'm still alive or not, I encourage you to visit my FF profile page. I post the 'progress' of each ongoing story and have a news section where I chat about my recent on-goings, what chapters I have or haven't been writing, and so on. I try to make updates every so often- which usually ranges between 'every few weeks' and 'every few months', but generally I try to keep track of the important stuff.

And that's about everything! Thanks to everyone for being so patient...I would really love to get hired somewhere soon...!


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